Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta lamented the early goal conceded and a lack of ruthlessness from his side after the 1-0 loss at Aston Villa.
Villa scored in the second minute when Bertrand Traore seized on a loose ball from Cedric Soares and laid a pass to Ollie Watkins, whose shot went past Arsenal debutant Mat Ryan via a deflection off Rob Holding.
In their subsequent efforts to equalise, the Gunners were denied by some good work by their former goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and sent a number of chances off target, including substitute Martin Odegaard firing over from a good position in the 84th minute.