City have proven to be an unstoppable force in the Premier League this season, but they were firmly halted in their tracks in the early stages of this game.

A loose touch from Marc Guehi was punished in brutal fashion, as Jackson strode into the area, sat down Elliot Anderson inside the box and rifled an effort into the roof of the net.

City were never going to take that lying down and came close to hitting back instantly through Iliman Ndiaye, who stepped in off the right and curled a left-footed effort towards the far post, which forced a flying save out of Zion Suzuki. 

Suzuki was called into action once more midway through the first half to deny Rayan Cherki low to his left after he’d been found in the area by Jeremy Doku.

Enzo Maresca’s men were unwavering in their approach after falling behind, and in almost carbon copy fashion to his effort earlier in the game, Ndiaye angled in off the right and cured another left-footed effort towards the far post, but this time it crashed back off the post.

Trailing at half-time wasn’t necessarily fatal for City though, as 88% of their away league goals this term arrived in the second half, so it was far from game over.

City backed up that sentiment within 10 minutes of the restart too, when a well-worked free-kick found its way to the danger man, Ndiaye, who stood up a perfect cross for Erling Haaland to attack at the far post and head home an equaliser.

City very nearly completed the comeback when Josko Gvardiol’s wicked strike was tipped onto the bar by Suzuki, and that proved to be a key save as Villa went up the other end just minutes later and took the lead through Jackson, whose low drive squirmed beneath Gianluigi Donnarumma. 

Suzuki was proving to be a near-immovable object in the Villa goal, reacting quickly to prevent Gvardiol from prodding home a loose ball inside the area.

It was firmly backs-to-the-wall in the final moments for Villa, but Unai Emery’s men defended resolutely. 

They survived a late scare when Haaland’s header was cleared off the line by Ian Maatsen, ultimately seeing out a first Premier League win of the season at Villa Park while denying City the chance to become just the eighth English top-flight team to win their first eight games of a season.