Aston Villa 2-1 Man City: Jackson double ends perfect start as City suffer first league defeat

Manchester City's unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to an end at Villa Park, where goals either side of an Erling Haaland leveller gave Aston Villa a 2-1 win. It is City's first league defeat of the campaign, leaving their last five Premier League games reading WWWWL, though they remain top of the table.

Aston Villa made the perfect start, going ahead inside six minutes when Nicolas Jackson finished from the left side of the box after being teed up by John McGinn. City huffed and puffed but struggled to find a way through before the break, with Marc Guéhi and Rayan Cherki both booked for fouls in the first half.

Enzo Maresca made a double change at the interval, sending on Rico Lewis for Guéhi and Phil Foden for Cherki, and the switch paid off almost immediately. Haaland levelled on 52 minutes, heading home from close range after Iliman Ndiaye's cross following a set piece.

The lead didn't last long. Villa restored their advantage just eight minutes later when substitute Ibrahim Mbaye, on for only a few minutes himself, teed up Jackson for his second of the afternoon, the striker finishing from the centre of the box. City pushed for an equaliser but couldn't find one, despite making further changes with Ryan McAidoo replacing Ndiaye.

It was a bad-tempered second half, with yellow cards shown to Johan Manzambi, Matty Cash, Elliot Anderson, McAidoo, Brian Madjo and Emiliano Buendía as both sides finished with four bookings apiece. City actually dominated the underlying numbers, with 63.2% possession and 15 shots to Villa's 8, including seven on target compared to the hosts' two, but couldn't turn that control into enough goals.

The result moves Aston Villa up to sixth and extends their own excellent recent run, their last five Premier League games now reading LWDWW. City remain top of the table, but the defeat ends a perfect run under Enzo Maresca, with the Manchester Evening News noting it was their first Premier League loss under the manager (Manchester Evening News).

Reaction from the Manchester City website described it simply as City slipping "to first Premier League loss of the season at Villa" (ManCity.com). BBC Sport's player ratings highlighted Jackson's afternoon, running with the headline "Jackson stars with two goals" (BBC Sport), while the Manchester Evening News was less complimentary about City's performance, with ratings including "one 4/10 and two 5/10s" though picking out Ndiaye as a bright spot (Manchester Evening News).

Written with the help of AI, using the match facts and the headlines from the publishers credited above. Each point links to the original report — tap the source name to read it in full.