Matty Cash on target as Aston Villa hand Manchester City their first defeat since August
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Aston Villa's Polish defender Matty Cash celebrates scoring the winner in a 1-0 English Premier League triumph over Manchester City at Villa Park in Birmingham on Oct 26, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
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BIRMINGHAM – Manchester City suffered their first loss since August as Matty Cash’s first-half strike secured a 1-0 victory for Aston Villa in the English Premier League on Oct 26, the hosts’ fourth straight win in the competition.
The hosts took the lead in the 19th minute from Emiliano Buendia’s corner, as Cash received the ball just outside the box and fired with his left foot into the bottom right corner past a helpless City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The fullback has scored two goals across his last five league outings, more strikes than he managed in his previous 57 matches in the competition.
Cash told the BBC: “It was a nice strike. It’s something we worked on yesterday in training, not exactly for me to hit it, it was a special corner but it wasn’t meant for me.
“I’ve had a few like them, I’ve scored four this season for club and country. On the edge of the box I like shooting, it’s what I like to do in training, hit them nice and sweet.
“We work a lot on set-pieces, over the last couple of years there have been a lot of set pieces that have won us games and today is no different.
Villa’s defence survived a chaotic moment near the hour mark as Savinho’s shot was scooped over the bar by Pau Torres. Erling Haaland’s late strike was disallowed due to an offside in the build-up as the visitors failed to find an equaliser.
That meant that City have suffered their third loss at Villa Park in a row.
No City player other than Haaland, who had netted in his last 12 matches for club and country, has scored in the Premier League for a month.
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 rose to seventh, a point below City.
City midfielder Bernardo Silva told Sky Sports: “I would say we played quite well with the ball. Our offensive concepts were quite good. Even if we didn’t score we had chances. We made them defend deep and they struggled in some moments.
“On the other side of the game we were really bad defensively. Our pressing was really bad, we arrived two seconds late to every duel.”
Elsewhere, Eberechi Eze scored his first Premier League goal for Arsenal against his former side Crystal Palace on Oct 26 to extend the north London club’s lead at the top of the standings.
Eze, who spent five seasons at Selhurst Park before Arsenal re-signed him in August, struck in the 39th minute when Gabriel Magalhaes headed Declan Rice’s free kick into his path. The midfielder leapt to steer a first-time finish past Dean Henderson.
The victory extended Arsenal’s unbeaten run to six league matches and 10 games in all competitions, and opened up a four-point cushion over second-placed Bournemouth with 22 points after nine games. The Cherries beat Nottingham Forest on Oct 26.
Arsenal attacker Leandro Trossard told Sky Sports: “We’re really pleased with the win and another clean sheet... Lately it has been like that, we have to keep patience throughout the game because we know we can score anytime...
“We are excited as well. When we get a set-piece we know we can score. It’s hard to put a finger on it (why we are doing particularly well this season) but every season we learn more and more. We just want to win, we want to win every game.”
Former Arsenal winger Theo Walcott added on the BBC: “It’s starting to now be normal that they don’t concede goals. They will have a bad patch and last year it was too many draws but I don’t think that’s going to happen this year. There is belief in the whole club now.”
The second half at the Emirates Stadium had a far different feel as Arsenal pressed for a second goal, with a flurry of chances including a chance at an easy tap-in for Bukayo Saka that Palace defender Marc Guehi scrambled to boot clear.
Palace defender Chris Richards told Sky Sports: “It was a close game in all aspects. Arsenal are a really good team and deserved the win. I think everybody knows how Arsenal are defensively and we needed to take our chances.
“Set-pieces are probably their forte right now. But we went toe-to-toe with the best team in the league.” REUTERS, AFP
