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Man City fall short in Premier League record attempt as Aston Villa's revival continues

ASTON VILLA 2-1 MAN CITY: Two goals from Nicolas Jackson either side of an Erling Haaland header gave Unai Emery's team all three points and put them up to sixth in the Premier League table

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Enzo Fernandez of Manchester City reacts after Nicolas Jackson of Aston Villa scores his team's second goal during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Aston Villa FC and Manchester City at Villa Park on October 24, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

Manchester City failed to win a Premier League game for the first time this season(Image: Molly Darlington/Getty Images)

A brace from in-form Nicolas Jackson ended Manchester City's 100 per cent start to the Premier League season, as Aston Villa continued their revival. Former Chelsea star Jackson scored his sixth and seventh goals in Villa colours to fire the hosts to victory in Saturday's early kick-off.

City headed to Villa Park having won every league fixture since Enzo Maresca took charge. But their quest to become the first side to beat Chelsea's long-standing record of nine wins to start a Premier League season will have to wait another year.

Jackson broke the deadlock with just six minutes on the clock, sending Elliot Anderson for a dummy before finishing high at Gianluigi Donnarumma's near post. Maresca made two changes at half-time, bringing on Rico Lewis and Champions League hat-trick hero Phil Foden.

And it didn't take long for City to draw level after the restart. Who else but Erling Haaland to head home Iliman Ndiaye's cross?

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Parity only lasted eight minutes, though, as Jackson doubled up on the hour mark. The Villa striker was expertly picked out by Ibrahim Mbaye and his low shot went through Donnarumma.

City pushed for an equaliser but Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki was equal to them until the end. Villa Park continues to be an unhappy hunting ground for City, having last won there in 2021.

After suffering their first league defeat since Villa came to the Etihad and beat City in May, Ruben Dias told TNT Sports: "Frustrating, felt like we fought a lot. First 10-15 minutes of the first half we took our time to get into the game.

"They changed the way they set up so we took time to adapt. But we fought, we had chances and they ended up scoring two goals in two transitions - very efficient. Room to improve, we need to do better.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 24: Nicolas Jackson of Aston Villa celebrates scoring his team’s first goal during the Premier League 2026/27 match between Aston Villa FC and Manchester City at Villa Park on October 24, 2026 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Neville Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)

Nicolas Jackson has scored seven goals in 11 games for Aston Villa(Image: ille Williams/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images)

"It is what it is. Whatever happens we need to react to it. The team had a very good reaction. The second one was tough because it was very close to our equaliser. We kept going and tried to create chances. Not our day but we keep moving forward."

In contrast, man-of-the-match Jackson was delighted with the result, saying: "It was incredible, we got the win which is the most important thing. Man City are a strong team, the league leaders. Hopefully now we forget about this one and focus on the next one."

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