Villa Hand City Their First Defeat of the Season, Spurs Win at Stamford Bridge After 36 Years
It was a dramatic Saturday in the English Premier League. Manchester City tasted their first defeat of the season, losing 2-1 to Aston Villa in Birmingham, and Arsenal capitalised by beating Everton to draw level with them. The other surprise of the day came in London — Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea 2-0 at Stamford Bridge for only their second league victory there in 36 years.
At Villa Park, the hosts went ahead in only the sixth minute. City defender Marc Guehi's heavy touch allowed Villa captain John McGinn to pounce and feed Nicolas Jackson, who slotted the ball into the bottom corner. For City, unbeaten all season, it was a major first-half shock.
City levelled soon after the break. Erling Haaland headed home Iliman Ndiaye's clipped cross from a free kick, and it looked as if the league leaders were returning to their familiar rhythm.
But on the hour, Jackson struck again. Ibrahim Mbaye surged down the right before cutting the ball back for his Senegal international teammate, whose shot sneaked under the diving body of goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Villa held on to their 2-1 lead until the end.
The win lifted Unai Emery's side to sixth place on 11 points. It was Villa's first home league victory of the season and their third successive league win over City. City's perfect start, meanwhile, came to an end, and after eight games the title race has tightened further.
After the match, Jackson told TNT Sports: 'It was incredible; we got the win, which is the most important thing. Man City are a strong team, the league leaders. It's just the beginning; we're trying to work game by game.'
City are playing under an off-field shadow. An independent commission's findings that they committed 114 breaches of Premier League financial rules hang over the club. City have always denied any wrongdoing and have appealed.
In the day's other match, Arsenal beat Everton 2-0 at a rain-soaked Emirates Stadium to move alongside City. Ezri Konsa in the seventh minute and Gabriel in the 68th scored Arsenal's goals. Mikel Arteta's side now have 21 points, level with City.
Tottenham's win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge was no less dramatic. In the 77th minute, Chelsea goalkeeper Mike Penders punched a corner into his own net — on his first league start.
Three minutes later Chelsea were reduced to 10 men, Cole Palmer shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Conor Gallagher. Mathys Tel then sealed the win in the 87th minute, gaining possession inside his own half before surging down the left, gliding past two defenders and firing a low shot from outside the box into the bottom corner.
After the match Tel said: 'It's very special, because we came here a lot of times and didn't get a win. And today, we made it together, all together, we showed great mentality, and I'm very happy about it.' For fourth-placed Chelsea, the home defeat was a major setback.
In another match, Fulham beat Coventry City 1-0 through Oscar Bobb's superb 80th-minute finish. Fulham are 13th in the table, while Coventry are 19th. With City and Arsenal level on 21 points after eight rounds, the title race is now wide open.
