Manchester City's perfect Premier League start — seven wins from seven under Enzo Maresca — ended at a ground that has become their annual graveyard. Aston Villa beat them 2-1 at Villa Park, the fourth consecutive season City have lost there, and the manner of the defeat told a story that goes well beyond a single result. Nicolas Jackson, one of the centrepieces of Villa's summer overhaul, scored twice. The first came after just six minutes, a gift from Marc Guehi's heavy touch that Jackson punished by cutting inside and blasting past Gianluigi Donnarumma. Erling Haaland equalised early in the second half — his 13th goal in 10 appearances this season, because of course — but Jackson restored Villa's lead on the hour, drilling home Ibrahim Mbaye's cross with an effort Donnarumma should have saved. The scoreline flatters City's composure. Zion Suzuki was magnificent in Villa's goal, denying Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki, and Abdukodir Khusanov across a first half City dominated territorially. Ndiaye struck the post. Josko Gvardiol hit the crossbar via Suzuki's fingertips. City created enough to win comfortably and took none of it. What makes this result interesting is the context of Villa's reconstruction. Six players from the side that started their Europa League victory last season left during the transfer window — the spine of the squad that Emery built into a Champions League club over four years was gutted. Jackson, Suzuki, Mbaye, Johan Manzambi: these are the replacements, and they are already producing results after a sluggish start to the campaign. This was Villa's sixth win in seven games across all competitions. City, meanwhile, carry a shadow. The club is appealing a guilty verdict on over 100 charges of breaking financial rules between 2009 and 2018, charges that could theoretically result in relegation. On the field, Maresca's side had shown no visible effects of that distraction until now. Whether this loss changes the trajectory or is simply the annual Villa Park anomaly remains to be seen. The result lets Arsenal move level on points at the top if they beat Everton later on Saturday. Villa climb to sixth. The league table is young, but the pattern at Villa Park is not — four straight seasons of City defeats there is not a fluke. It is a matchup problem that has survived two different Villa squads and two different City managers.
