Villa survive Leicester fightback to edge narrow win

Aston Villa survived a second-half Leicester fightback as Unai Emery’s side held on for a narrow victory at King Power Stadium.

The visitors dominated the opening stages and took a deserved lead shortly before the half-hour mark when Amadou Onana finished off a well-rehearsed free-kick routine involving Youri Tielemans and Jacob Ramsey.

Leicester improved after the break, but Villa doubled their advantage when Jhon Duran – who had only just come on for Ollie Watkins – sent a looping header over Mads Hermansen for his second goal of the season.

Brighton loanee Facundo Buonanotte then thumped home his first Leicester goal to give the Foxes hope, but Steve Cooper’s side failed to complete the turnaround.

The hosts thought they had been awarded a penalty deep into added time when Jamie Vardy went down under Ezri Konsa’s challenge, but the veteran striker was flagged offside from Bilal El Khannouss’s through-ball.

Villa have now won their opening two away matches in a Premier League season on four occasions, having also done so in 2009-10, 2014-15 and 2020-21.

Leicester, meanwhile, are still searching for their first top-flight win of the new campaign.

The victory was Villa’s 16th away in the Premier League under Emery – only Arsenal and Manchester City have won more games on the road since the Spaniard’s appointment – and the ideal response to last weekend’s defeat by the Gunners.

Though not at their free-flowing best, Villa should have been further ahead at the interval after Watkins twice failed to get the better of Hermansen when one-on-one with the Leicester goalkeeper.

The England international was played through by Tielemans after just two minutes but Hermansen managed to claw the ball away at the feet of the striker, who was denied by another sprawling save midway through the first half.

Watkins has now gone seven top-flight appearances without a goal, his longest barren run since an eight-game streak between August and October 2022 just prior to Emery’s arrival.

Duran, by contrast, has hit the ground running this season, doubling his personal tally for the campaign just two minutes after replacing the England man.

The Colombia international was heavily linked with a move to West Ham in the summer but after scoring Villa’s second in their 2-1 opening-day victory over the Hammers, he struck again at King Power Stadium to give his team a crucial two-goal cushion.

“To get three points here today is fantastic,” Emery told BBC Match of the Day.

“We competed very well in the first match against West Ham, in the second game against Arsenal and again here today.

“We have some days off now. We want a rest. We need to prepare for the next weeks in the Premier League and the Champions League.”