Bukayo Saka scored the only goal as Arsenal edged Aston Villa in a tight Premier League contest at Villa Park, extending the champions' strong start to the season. The result underlines Arsenal's ability to grind out narrow victories even without playing at their best, while Villa's defensive resilience was undone by a moment of quality from their opponent.

BBC Sport's player ratings had Saka and Riccardo Calafiori as Arsenal's top performers, both rated 8, with Calafiori providing the assist for the winner. Villa handed a debut to £30m goalkeeper Zion Suzuki and gave a first Premier League appearance to new signing Boubacar Kamara's midfield colleague Ezri Konsa off the bench, while Arsenal's Nicolas Jackson, a £65m record signing, and Bruno Guimaraes also featured as second-half substitutes. Villa striker Nicolas Jackson replaced Ollie Watkins in attack but could not find an equaliser, and winger Christos Tzolis was withdrawn at half-time after a poor first-half display.