Premier League: Cash on target as Villa hand Manchester City their first defeat since August

Manchester City suffered their first defeat since August as Matty Cash’s first-half strike earned a 1-0 win for Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, the home side’s fourth successive victory in the competition.

City fell to fourth in the standings after their nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end, six points behind leaders Arsenal. Villa climbed to seventh place, one point below City.

Villa looked for Ollie Watkins early with long balls and counters, while Emiliano Buendia’s shot went too high in the third minute. Tijjani Reijnders almost gave City the lead in the sixth minute, but the midfielder’s shot went over the crossbar.

The hosts took the lead in the 19th minute from Buendia’s corner, when Cash received the ball just outside the penalty area and fired with his left foot into the bottom right corner past a helpless City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Norway international Erling Haaland ran through Villa’s defensive line and almost equalized two minutes later, but keeper Emiliano Martinez denied his effort.

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Villa kept up the pressure despite losing Buendia to a right foot injury around the half-hour mark, with Watkins’ header from Lucas Digne’s corner blocked and Morgan Rogers heading wide from John McGinn’s cross ten minutes later.

After the break, Villa’s defense survived a chaotic moment around the hour mark when Savinho fired two shots on target, but his first effort was blocked and the second was cleared over the bar from the edge of the goal line by defender Pau Torres.

Villa had chances to extend their lead when Jadon Sancho, replacing Buendia, came in from the left in the 69th minute and fired two shots at Donnarumma, but the Italian keeper blocked both times.

Watkins just beat the keeper when he powered a through ball into the City penalty area six minutes later, but Donnarumma quickly dropped and kept the ball out.

Haaland, who had scored in his last 12 games for club and country, found the net in the 90th minute but it was ruled out for offside in the build-up as City failed to find an equalizer and succumbed to a third straight defeat at Villa Park.

City visits Swansea City in a League Cup match on Wednesday, while Villa continues their league match against title holders Liverpool on Saturday.

Published on October 26, 2025