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Some Saturdays follow the script. This one tore it up and threw the pages in the air. In England, one perfect record disappeared, the top of the table tightened, and a London derby turned into a long, wet night for the home side. Further south and east, Italy produced a classic, Dortmund found a late answer, and Madrid scraped through.

If you read our Saturday big-teams preview, you know where every eye was pointing. We made six calls, and football made us pay for two of them. Here is how the whole day unfolded.

Villa Park Strikes Again

Manchester City walked into Birmingham with seven straight league wins and a flawless start to the season. They walked out with their first defeat, and Villa Park once again showed why visiting managers dread it. City have now lost on their last four trips here.

The day was also special for Unai Emery. It was his fourth anniversary in charge of Villa, and he marked it with another tactical win over a City side. He also did the double over Pep Guardiola last season. Now he has done it to Enzo Maresca too, with a very different kind of Villa team.

A fast start

Villa came out aggressive and hungry. Inside six minutes they were ahead. Marc Guéhi gave the ball away, John McGinn pounced, and the ball dropped to Nicolas Jackson, who smashed it into the roof of the net. It was a brilliant strike, and it set the tone for the afternoon.

City did respond. Zion Suzuki, one of Villa’s summer signings, had to make a run of good saves to deny Iliman Ndiaye, Rayan Cherki and Abdukodir Khusanov. Ndiaye also hit the outside of the post. Erling Haaland, meanwhile, had touched the ball just eight times in the first half. It felt like City were knocking on a door that wouldn’t open.

Haaland needs only one

Then the door opened, just slightly. Seven minutes into the second half, Ndiaye whipped in a precise cross and Haaland leapt to thunder a header home. The message was clear. You can ignore him for 45 minutes, but you can never switch off.

For a spell, City looked in control. Phil Foden had come on at half-time for Cherki, and Rico Lewis replaced Guéhi, who had been booked for fouling Jackson. Maresca called taking Guéhi off a technical decision and said he wasn’t worried about the defender. But it is hard to ignore the context. Guéhi has had a rough few weeks, including a costly mistake in England’s defeat by Spain and a difficult game last week against Ipswich.

The substitution that won it

Emery answered City’s comeback with one of the best changes of the weekend. He sent on Ibrahim Mbaye, a £47m summer signing, and within a minute the youngster had delivered a first-time cross for Jackson. The striker’s shot went under Gianluigi Donnarumma’s hand. The keeper will want that one back, but the finish was well timed and the build-up was brilliant.

From there Villa dropped deep, defended with real discipline, and let City run out of ideas. The yellow cards stacked up for the visitors, and Haaland was left working with scraps and crosses. A late Haaland header was cleared by Ian Maatsen, and a chance for Jeremy Doku ended in a messy miss. Villa held on.

The Jackson story

Jackson was the story of the day. He scored twice, won both of his aerial duels, completed both of his dribbles, and won three fouls. He has now scored six goals in six games and seven for Villa overall. It is a sweet twist, too, because Maresca allowed him to leave Chelsea on loan to Bayern Munich while he was in charge there.

Emery was glowing afterwards. He said Jackson used to blast shots over the bar “like in rugby” earlier in the season, but is now finding the corners. He praised Jackson’s defending and his work in duels too. Jackson himself called the dressing room “incredible” and said this is only the beginning.

Verdicts

Maresca felt City deserved more and said his side were in control for much of the game. Ruben Dias was more direct, calling it a frustrating afternoon and admitting City were slow to adapt when Villa changed their shape. Both pointed out that City conceded two goals from transitions. Villa were simply more efficient.

Joleon Lescott put it neatly when he said it was a collective effort, and that Emery’s substitutions were perfectly timed. Matty Cash called his manager “a tactical genius” and revealed how Villa prepared to shut down Doku. He also said Suzuki is so good with his feet that “we’d signed a midfielder”. The result lifts Villa to sixth, ends the wait for a home league win this season, and makes them the first side to beat City three times in a row since Liverpool in 2016.

Arsenal Take Advantage

Arsenal’s task was simple. City had slipped up, and a win over Everton would put them level at the top. They did it without playing brilliantly.

Mikel Arteta made five changes after a draining midweek game against Bayern Munich, and Everton arrived without Jarrad Branthwaite and Jack Grealish, who was ill. That didn’t make life easy for Arsenal, but it didn’t stop them from taking the lead early.

Set pieces strike first

Arsenal won three corners in a row, and the third one did the damage. Gabriel Magalhães made the first contact at the near post, Jordan Pickford tipped the ball onto the bar, and Vitaliy Mykolenko’s clearance under pressure from Viktor Gyökeres fell kindly. Ezri Konsa was waiting to ram it home from close range.

It was Arsenal’s first set-piece goal of the season, which is a surprise after the record 25 they scored last term. Arteta could finally breathe.

A one-sided first half

Arsenal won ten corners in the first half and kept the pressure on. Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke both missed good chances to make it two, with England head coach Thomas Tuchel watching from the stands. Madueke was the most dangerous of the lot. He was inches away on the half-hour mark with an instinctive effort from the edge of the box. His performance matters even more because Bukayo Saka is expected to be out for a long spell with a thigh injury.

Everton defended hard, and they almost stole an equaliser. Just before half-time, Ben White lost concentration, and Thierno Barry nearly flicked the ball past David Raya. That was their clearest chance of the afternoon.

Gyökeres struggles

The Sweden striker made his first Premier League start of the season but looked laboured. He was penalised for a foul on James Tarkowski, and a frustrated Arteta got a yellow card for protesting. Gyökeres was substituted soon after. He is still waiting for his first goal of the season.

The second seals it

Less than a minute after Arsenal’s substitutes came on, White crossed brilliantly to the back post, and Gabriel headed home. That was effectively that. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall had a header that flew just wide, but Everton never really threatened a comeback.

The reaction

Arteta was happy with the result and the bigger picture. When asked about City and the uncertainty around their punishment, he said Arsenal are focused on what they can control and are “very pleased” with about 90% of their results and performances. David Moyes, on his 14th visit to the Emirates as Everton manager, was more downbeat. He said conceding early made it hard and pointed to the strength of Arsenal’s bench. Everton have won twice in 35 league games there, and with the club’s American owners reportedly looking to sell, the mood around Goodison is far from calm.

Stamford Bridge Turns Cold

Then there’s Chelsea. If the other two games were twists, this one was a nightmare.

A good start in terrible weather

It poured at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea handled it well at first, pressing high and forcing Spurs into mistakes. Cole Palmer even whipped in a fine ball across the six-yard box that was crying out for a striker’s touch. But there was no striker, because João Pedro had picked up an injury in training and was ruled out.

That absence shaped everything. Xabi Alonso started without a recognised centre-forward and gave 19-year-old winger Geovany Quenda his first start. Danny Welbeck, the experienced option, stayed on the bench.

Spurs take control

After about 15 minutes, the game turned. Chelsea dropped deeper, and Tottenham took the ball. They finished the first half with around 70% possession and caused problems down the left, where Mathys Tel gave young Josh Acheampong a tough afternoon.

Mike Penders, making his first full Premier League start in goal, was busy. He made key saves from Tel and from Omar Marmoush on a cutback. Marmoush also missed a big chance from close range, so Chelsea had some luck. At the other end, Spurs goalkeeper Antonín Kinský made excellent saves from Palmer and Jordan Henderson. Henderson really should have scored after a lovely one-touch move that started with Chelsea’s press.

There was no stoppage time at the end of the first half, which tells you how flowing and non-stop it was. It finished scoreless.

The turning point

The second half began slowly. Spurs lost James Maddison to injury early on, but they didn’t lose their grip. Sky Sports’ report argued that Alonso needed to change things at half-time, and he stuck with the same set-up. Tottenham became more dominant.

On 77 minutes, Mateus Fernandes swung in a corner. Jan Paul van Hecke challenged Penders, and the goalkeeper punched the ball into his own net. It was a horrible moment for a young keeper who had played well until then. He became only the second Chelsea goalkeeper to score an own goal in the Premier League, after Petr Čech in 2009.

Palmer sees red

Things got worse almost straight away. Palmer had already escaped a red card earlier in the half. After Fernandes stopped one of his runs, Palmer barged into the Spurs midfielder’s head, and the referee only showed a yellow. Then he stood on Conor Gallagher in a tackle and picked up a second yellow.

Opinions are split. Some felt it was harsh, arguing Palmer wasn’t even challenging for the ball and that Gallagher’s foot ended up under his stride. Gary Neville felt Palmer had “lost his head”. Alonso said he hadn’t seen it on TV but had been told the referee probably got it right. He added that Palmer can learn from it.

Tel finishes it

With ten men and about ten minutes left, Chelsea had no answer. Tel picked the ball up deep on the left, beat two defenders, cut inside, and fired a low shot into the bottom corner from 20 yards. That sealed a famous win for Spurs.

What the numbers say

The stats make grim reading for Chelsea:

1. It was Spurs’ first win at Stamford Bridge since 2018 and only their second since 1990.

2. Spurs had won just once in their previous 34 league visits.

3. It was their first win there with a clean sheet since December 1986.Chelsea managed only seven attempts, their fewest at home in the league since January.They have now conceded eight set-piece goals this season, double any other team.

4. Chelsea have failed to score in a home London derby only twice in their last 17.

5. Chelsea scored no goals in the two games João Pedro has missed.

Reaction

Roberto De Zerbi was delighted. He said the fans, the club and the players deserved this win and said Spurs are now “a complete team”. It was their second win in six days, and it eased concerns about a third season in the bottom half.

Alonso was honest. He said Chelsea weren’t at their best, either collectively or individually, and that the game was decided by the first goal. Sky Sports’ Daniel Sturridge was more critical. He felt Quenda’s selection was a mistake and Welbeck should have started because the team needs a focal point. Then he asked the question many Chelsea fans were already thinking. With Jackson flying at Villa, should they have kept him?

Napoli and Roma Deliver a Derby del Sole to Remember

If England gave us shocks, Naples gave us theatre. The Derby del Sole was frantic, ill-tempered and brilliant, and it had a bit of everything.

Two tired, troubled teams

Both sides arrived off midweek Champions League wins, but in very different moods. Napoli needed a response after a bad league defeat to Venezia. They were missing Alisson Santos, David Neres, Costantino Favasuli and Alessandro Buongiorno, and Amir Rrahmani was battling flu symptoms. Kevin De Bruyne was again used in a deeper playmaking role that he doesn’t enjoy.

Roma had their own headaches. Donyell Malen was back from suspension, but Lorenzo Pellegrini suffered a serious injury in the midweek win, joining Paulo Dybala, Manu Koné and Mile Svilar on the injured list. Bryan Cristante got his first start in well over a month. On the touchline, Gian Piero Gasperini and Massimiliano Allegri shook hands before a game that would soon get heated.

A goal worth the ticket price

The first half was wide open. Marten de Roon blocked Rasmus Højlund, Devyne Rensch made a desperate clearance to stop a tap-in, and Alex Meret stopped Malen. Then Napoli got the moment of the match. Matteo Politano’s free kick was cleared only as far as André-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who produced a bicycle kick from 14 yards that curled into the top corner. Pierluigi Gollini never moved.

McTominay takes over

Napoli doubled their lead early in the second half. Politano crossed from the right and Scott McTominay dived to head home at the back post. It was a landmark moment for the Scotland midfielder. He hadn’t scored all season until a brace in the Champions League, and these were his first league goals of the campaign.

Roma refuse to quit

Roma came back through persistence and set pieces. Matías Soulé combined with Malen and bent a left-footed shot into the far corner. Then, after a run of corners, Santiago Castro nodded De Roon’s cross down and Leonardo Balerdi blasted it into the roof of the net.

Just as Roma pushed forward, Napoli hit them on the break. Gollini parried a shot, and McTominay drilled a low, hard effort from distance into the bottom corner. It was his second of the day and restored Napoli’s lead.

A controversial finish

It still wasn’t over. In the final minutes, Wesley crossed and Balerdi headed it onto the post and over the line. Napoli were furious. They claimed Sam Beukema had been fouled in the build-up, but the contact looked minor, and the goal stood. Allegri was sent off from the touchline for dissent. It was a fitting end to an afternoon where nothing felt settled until the final whistle.

Dortmund Find a Late Answer

Borussia Dortmund returned to winning ways in the Bundesliga with a tight, patient victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. They came in after back-to-back league draws against Werder Bremen and Union Berlin, so patience was needed.

Frankfurt, coached by Adi Hütter, made it hard. Goalkeeper Noah Atubolu kept making saves as Dortmund grew stronger, and the breakthrough only came in the 80th minute. Substitute Maximilian Beier found the far corner, and that was enough for all three points.Niko Kovač was happy with how his players dug deep after a demanding run of games and tough away trips. He said what mattered most was beating a quality opponent, and he hopes they can repeat it soon.

Nico Schlotterbeck added that the team is progressing but isn’t perfect yet. He pointed out that Dortmund have kept five clean sheets in their first seven league games, and he called the domestic cup the shortest route to silverware.

That is relevant because Dortmund’s schedule is about to get serious. They host Werder Bremen in the second round of the DFB-Pokal on Tuesday, then travel to face Bayern Munich in the league next weekend. The win moved them provisionally to the top of the Bundesliga on 17 points after seven matchdays, ahead of Bayern’s game against Freiburg on Sunday.

Atlético Scrape Through in Madrid

Atlético Madrid didn’t play well, but they found a way, and in a long season that counts for a lot. Their opponents were Deportivo de La Coruña, who arrived with a familiar face. Josema Giménez returned to the Metropolitano and came close to taking something from his old home.

A poor first half

Atlético were flat early on. Deportivo held the ball, dominated possession, and stopped the hosts from creating clear chances. There were even whistles from the home fans. The best moments were at either end. Yeremay shot from a free kick, Jan Oblak couldn’t hold it, and the loose ball fell to Amatuci. Oblak blocked it with his left foot to save a certain goal. At the other end, Kang In Lee twisted his way into the box but fired over. In the 32nd minute, there was also a scare when a player went down with a knee problem after a collision, though he recovered quickly.

The second-half switch

Atlético changed things at half-time. Lookman and Barrios replaced Le Normand and Giuliano, and the energy shifted. In the 47th minute, Baena and Grimaldo combined, and Grimaldo played a lovely ball to Julián Álvarez, who finished. It was a big moment for the Argentine, ending a 357-day wait for a league goal. It also came with a backstory. He recently apologised to Atlético fans for pushing for a summer exit, calling it a mistake, and Diego Simeone said he respects people who apologise. The reaction at the Metropolitano suggested the fans agreed.

A nervy finish

Atlético controlled the game without sealing it. Sørloth, back from injury, gave them a useful outlet off the bench. But Deportivo kept pushing. Mario Soriano had a chance in the 87th minute, and Kevin shot wide in stoppage time. Then came the final action of the match. Adama Traoré squared the ball for Kevin, who had an open goal and a clear sight of it but hit it straight at Oblak. The goalkeeper stopped it on the line to save the three points.

How Our Quick Picks Did

We said predictions are just for fun, and Saturday proved it. We went four for six.

What we got right

1. Arsenal: We backed them against Everton, and they delivered.

2. Napoli vs Roma: We called a draw, and a draw is what we got, though we didn’t expect this much drama.

3. Dortmund: We picked them against Frankfurt, and Beier made sure of it late.

4. Atlético: We trusted them at home, and Oblak made it hold.

What we got wrong

1. Aston Villa vs Man City: We went with City on form. Villa had other ideas.

2. Chelsea vs Tottenham: We backed Chelsea at home. Between the injury, the own goal and the red card, it all went wrong.

The lesson is the same as always. Form, tables and probabilities can point you in a direction, but a late goal, a red card or a missing striker can change everything. That’s why we love this game.

Winners and Losers

Winners

1. Nicolas Jackson: Two goals, a full-game performance, and a statement against his old manager.

2. Unai Emery: Right on selection, set-up and substitutions.

3. Zion Suzuki and Ibrahim Mbaye: Two summer signings who made a big difference.

4. Roberto De Zerbi: A statement win at a ground where Spurs rarely win.

5. Mathys Tel: Constant threat, and a goal to finish it.

6. Ben White: A superb cross for the second goal and a reminder of his quality.

7. Scott McTominay and Leonardo Balerdi: Two players who each scored twice in a derby for the ages.

8. Maximilian Beier: A late goal off the bench that put Dortmund top.

9. Julián Álvarez and Jan Oblak: One scored, one saved, and Atlético took the points.

Losers

1. Chelsea’s striker plan: Starting without a centre-forward backfired badly.

2. Cole Palmer: Two yellows and a lesson he’ll want to forget.

3. Marc Guéhi: A rough afternoon at the wrong time.

4. Mike Penders: A fine game ruined by one moment.

5. Viktor Gyökeres: Still waiting for that first goal of the season.

6. Max Allegri: Sent off after a chaotic finish, and not for the first time this week in the headlines.

7. Deportivo’s Kevin: One open goal, one missed chance, and a long trip home.

The Bigger Questions

Six stories will follow these clubs into the next round of fixtures.

Arsenal’s injury list. Saka’s thigh injury is expected to keep him out for a while. Arsenal have depth, and Madueke gave a good reminder of what he can do, but Saka is a hard player to replace.

City’s cloud. They have been found guilty on 115 charges, and the punishment is still to come. Arteta was asked about it and kept to the standard line, which is the right call. But until the verdict lands, the title race is hard to read.

Villa’s future with Emery. With Manchester United linked, Cash said keeping Emery is the club’s main priority. It is hard to imagine anything more important.

Chelsea’s striker problem. If João Pedro is out for long, Alonso needs a plan. Next up is a League Cup trip to Anfield on Wednesday, which is a tough place to look for answers.

Naples and Rome’s injury lists. Both Napoli and Roma are stretched, especially Roma after Pellegrini’s serious injury. A game like this will only make squad depth more important.

Dortmund’s big week. A cup tie against Bremen on Tuesday, then a trip to Bayern. If they get through both, the title talk will get louder.

Where things Stand.

Arsenal and City are now level on points at the top of the Premier League, with City ahead on goal difference. A few hours earlier, City had been three points clear. That’s a huge swing for one afternoon.

Villa look like a team that has found its feet after a messy summer and a slow start. Emery himself admitted that 11 points isn’t enough, but the trend is clearly upward. Spurs, meanwhile, now have back-to-back wins and a lot more belief under De Zerbi.

And Chelsea have a lot to think about. Some defeats hurt more than others, and this one will sting for a while.

Elsewhere, Dortmund sit provisionally top of the Bundesliga, Napoli and Roma will both feel they had something to be proud of and something to be annoyed about, and Atlético kept their run going without making it look pretty.

We’ll keep following all of it. Come back to Matchday Pundit for more previews, reaction and analysis through the week.

Quotes and match details via The Guardian, The Telegraph, SB Nation, Sky Sports, Football Italia and OneFootball.

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