Buendia blow, but Villa show that they can't be written off

AFTER the first quarter of the season, Aston Villa sit just three points off second place having beaten Manchester City 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.

- By JOHN TOWNLEY

It's the third successive time Villa have beaten City at home, following 1-0 and 2-1 victories in the previous two campaigns.

Matty Cash scored the only goal of the game following a set-piece routine from a corner, taken by Emi Buendia before the Argentine was shortly replaced by Jadon Sancho through injury.

City thought they had scored a late equaliser through Erling Haaland, but Omar Marmoush strayed into an offside position before finding the Norwegian at the back post.

Here are the talking points...

Never write off Emery's Villa

Villa went 15 games without beating Man City after Andi Weimann's memorable winner, before Leon Bailey's goal was all it took to down Pep Guardiola's side back in December 2023.

Now, they've beaten City in three consecutive home matches their best run against them since between 1960 and 1975. No longer does Guardiola's team strike fear into Villa, even if their record at the Etihad remains poor. That's down to Unai Emery being a top coach and the power of Villa Park.

Villa have lost just two of their last 24 Premier League home games since the start of last season, winning 14 and drawing eight - no ever-present side has lost fewer matches across that period.

There's no escaping that Villa's early-season form, and even more so their performances, were poor. That said, there's no disgrace in drawing with Newcastle, while Brentford have also beaten Manchester United and Liverpool at home, as well as drawing with Chelsea.

Crystal Palace remain Villa's bogey team, while Everton are always tough at home, and Sunderland currently sit fourth after a stunning start to the campaign.

Those were the games in which Villa failed to impress - though the results weren't terrible. Wins could have been within reach had Villa played even slightly better.