Aston Villa held on to secure a second Premier League victory of the season, winning 2-1 away at Leicester City courtesy of goals from Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran.
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Leicester – who have only managed to collect one point from their opening three Premier League fixtures – faced an Unai Emery side who were in no mood to be charitable at the King Power Stadium.
The visitors were on top for much of Saturday’s encounter and they opened their account with a well-worked free-kick routine that resulted in a second goal of the campaign for midfielder Onana after 28 minutes.
Villa doubled their lead after the break when Duran made an immediate impact from the bench, heading in beautifully from Lucas Digne’s centre, but Steve Cooper’s men were not done yet and a substitute of their own, Facundo Buonanotte, slammed in from close range to set up a nervy finish.
Leicester pushed for an equaliser but Villa secured a hard-fought win that sees them move up to sixth position on six points ahead of the international break, with the Foxes still waiting for a first win since promotion.
A frantic and high-tempo start to the match saw the Leicester players react to a boisterous home crowd with plenty of aggression and pressing, but Villa quickly found their feet and Ollie Watkins spurned a couple of early presentable opportunities.
Villa broke the deadlock with a goal straight off the training ground. Youri Tielemans stepped up to take a free-kick, sliding a pass down the right-hand side of Leicester’s defensive wall for a sprinting Jacob Ramsey – on as an early substitute for the injured Leon Bailey – to square across the box via Watkins for Onana to tap home.
Emery’s side assumed an element of control for the remainder of the first half, but a close-range Caleb Okoli effort that was clawed away by Emiliano Martinez reminded the visitors they were still in a match.
Villa thought they had the match wrapped up when Duran – arching his neck – looped an impressive header over Mads Hermansen after full-back Digne found him with a whipped cross from the left.
But Leicester found a threat through the introduction of Stephy Mavididi, who helped to set up fellow substitute Buonanotte with 17 minutes left. The hosts, though, were unable to rescue a point.
Leicester edged out again as tough start goes on
Leicester were once again competitive and played their part in an entertaining encounter, but they are short of points despite a spirited late revival.
There is no doubt that their start to life in the Premier League has not been the kindest, having played two of last season’s top five, Tottenham Hotspur and Villa, in their first two home matches.
However, Cooper will hope to iron out some of the recurring issues from his side during the international break with crucial matches against Crystal Palace and Everton to come.
One of the problems is the apparent lack of creativity that is blighting their cause. Jamie Vardy ran his heart out but was starved of service against Villa, touching the ball just twice in the opposition box during a first half that saw the visitors dominate.
The sale of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea was a blow and Oliver Skipp, a summer signing from Spurs, is a very different player in that he is unlikely to create as much in the final third.
Cooper needs to find a way of getting his strikers more service, though he will be pleased with the impact of substitutes Mavididi and Buonanotte who combined to give them hope.
Duran strikes again as Watkins drought continues
Watkins saw his goal drought continue, but an inspired change from Emery showed the depth Villa possess in their ranks, as he was replaced by match-winner Duran, exactly as happened against West Ham United in their opening match.
Watkins has now gone eight matches without registering a league goal for Villa, his worst run under Emery, but in the end it was not costly as the visitors held on for all three points and a valuable win to bounce back from the loss to Arsenal, capping an exciting week where they also discovered their upcoming UEFA Champions League opponents.
Villa have now won two of their three Premier League matches and look in fine form as they hope for another successful campaign, and there is a reasonable fixture list to look forward to after the international break, with encounters against Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town up next.
They had too much quality for a Leicester side who struggled to live with them when they moved the ball quickly across their front line.
The strong performances of Morgan Rogers, Onana and ex-Leicester midfielder Tielemans, combined the potency of players like Duran, overwhelmed a plucky Leicester effort.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 6 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
| 7 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
17 | +6 | 26 |
| 8 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
16 | +3 | 25 |
Club reports
Leicester report | Villa report
What the managers said
Steve Cooper: “I thought we looked a good team at times today. We definitely didn’t deserve to lose the game. For the first goal, we need to own the set play – but it should never have been a free-kick.”
Unai Emery: "I’m very happy because after three matches we have six points. We lost against Arsenal but competed the way we wanted. To get three points here today is fantastic.
"We competed very well in the first match against West Ham, in the second game against Arsenal and again here today."
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Key facts
Villa have won nine of their 10 Premier League matches against newly promoted sides under Unai Emery (D1), winning all four such away matches by an aggregate scoreline of 13-4.
Onana became just the third player to score in each of his first two away Premier League appearances for Aston Villa after Robbie Keane (February 2012) and Moussa Diaby (August 2023).
Buonanotte (19y 252d) became Leicester’s youngest Premier League scorer since Jonathan Stevenson (19y 189d) who also netted against Aston Villa back in April 2002.
Since keeping three consecutive clean sheets at King Power Stadium in October 2022, Leicester have failed to keep a single shutout in any of their last 15 home Premier League matches. Only between February 1939 – February 1955 have the Foxes gone longer without a home clean sheet in the top flight (a run of 22).
