Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 with two Jackson goals; Matty Cash plays full match

Aston Villa beat Manchester City 2-1 (1-0 at half-time) in Premier League matchweek 8, played at Villa Park in Birmingham on 24 October 2026. It was City's first defeat of the league season, after seven straight wins. Villa became the first team to beat Enzo Maresca's side.

How the match unfolded

The hosts took the lead in the 6th minute. According to Sportowe Fakty, Nicolas Jackson received the ball from John McGinn, ran into the box from the left and shot under the crossbar. Eurosport described the move slightly differently: in its version, the striker took advantage of a mistake by Marc Guehi.

City levelled in the 52nd minute. Erling Haaland headed in after a cross from Iliman Ndiaye. It was the league's top scorer's ninth league goal of the season.

Villa had the last word. In the 60th minute Jackson scored his second after an assist from Ibrahima Mbaye. Both Polish outlets noted that City goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could have done better with that goal. The score did not change until the final whistle.

Jackson's performance

The BBC's "Match of the Day" pundits Martin Keown and Steph Houghton discussed Jackson's impact on the result. Keown called him a "special talent".

The Polish angle

Poland international Matty Cash played the full match in Villa's defence. According to Eurosport, he played very well. Sportowefakty.pl reported that English sites rated his performance differently: astonvillanews.co.uk gave him 8, thefalse9.com gave 6 and Sofascore 6.8.

Eurosport also noted that Villa goalkeeper Zion Suzuki saved his side from conceding several times.

Villa's starting line-up also included Victor Lindelöf, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara and Joao Gomes. Leon Goretzka and Ross Barkley were among the second-half substitutes.