Manchester City came to Villa Park with seven wins from seven league games and left with nothing. Nicolas Jackson scored in the sixth minute and again in the 60th, Erling Haaland's header in between counted for very little in the end, and Aston Villa's 2-1 win on Saturday removed the last perfect record in the Premier League.
One loose touch and the afternoon turned
It took six minutes and a single mistake. Enzo Fernandez lofted a square pass about 30 yards from his own goal, Marc Guehi could not bring it under control, and John McGinn reached the loose ball before anybody in a City shirt had worked out what was happening. The Villa captain slid it through, Jackson turned inside Elliot Anderson, and the finish went high past Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Guehi's afternoon got worse from there. Shortly before half-time a Villa counter-attack ended with the defender pulling Jackson down on the edge of his own box, which brought a yellow card in the 32nd minute, and at the interval Enzo Maresca took him off along with Rayan Cherki. Rico Lewis and Phil Foden came on. Foden, who had scored a hat-trick in the Champions League on Tuesday, barely touched the game.
City were not bad. For long spells they held the ball and pushed Villa back, and Zion Suzuki had to save from Iliman Ndiaye, Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov before the interval. Ndiaye also hit the post. The equaliser, when it arrived seven minutes into the second half, was the kind of goal Haaland scores in his sleep: Ndiaye crossed from the right, Haaland climbed above everyone, and the header went in. That was his seventh Premier League match in a row with a goal.
Eight minutes of parity
Level lasted barely any time at all. Suzuki made another save from Josko Gvardiol almost immediately, and then Ibrahim Mbaye, on as a substitute in the 59th minute, got to the byline and pulled a low ball back. Jackson hit it first time from just inside the area. Donnarumma had almost no time to react, though the shot was close enough to him that a stronger hand would have kept it out.
There was one more scare, Haaland meeting another cross late on with the header heading in before Ian Maatsen cleared it off the line. Villa held on in front of 36,743 for a first home league win of the season.
Emery's anniversary, and a striker Chelsea let go
The date did not go unnoticed. Saturday was four years to the day since Unai Emery took the job, and this was Villa's fifth win in their past seven meetings with City and their fourth in a row against them at Villa Park. Whatever is wrong with Villa's season, this fixture keeps going their way.
Jackson has now scored seven times in 11 appearances in league and cup since joining, and four of Villa's summer signings started this match. Maresca's verdict afterwards was that his side deserved more, and on the balance of possession he has a case: City held the ball for long stretches, created enough to win most league games, and were beaten by two moments of quality after one error. But the error is becoming the story. Guehi was culpable for both goals against Ipswich the previous weekend and gave away the opener here, and Donnarumma conceded an early corner through a slow goal-kick before being beaten twice at his near side.
Perfect records do not usually end on one bad afternoon. This one did.
Match facts: Aston Villa 2-1 Manchester City, Premier League, Villa Park, Saturday 24 October 2026. Attendance 36,743. Half-time 1-0. Jackson 6' (McGinn), Haaland 52' (Ndiaye), Jackson 60' (Mbaye). Referee: Peter Bankes. VAR: Paul Tierney.
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