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Having breezed past Coventry City on the opening day of the new Premier League season, Arsenal showed the shackles could be coming off in their defence of the title. But it was back to regular proceedings against Aston Villa with a disciplined defensive display to hold onto a 1-0 victory. The Gunners are not going to rip up the rule book and forego the things that have made them great, but change is part and parcel of the sport. New individuals are one way that a club can engineer evolution, and there were two debutants present on the park for the visitors at Villa Park on Monday. ·Konsa and Guimaraes get their first minutes Bukayo Saka scored the only goal of the game in the 59th minute of a match when Arsenal struggled to consistently break the offside line of Villa's 4-4-2 formation. With the advantage in their hands, they had an opportunity to go through the gears, but a familiar sinking feeling soon transpired for fans. The team could not control the contest, their opponents threatened in the transition, and some major interventions were needed to put out fires at the back. Mikel Arteta responded with the cavalry. Bruno Guimaraes came on for Myles Lewis-Skelly in the 71st minute to earn his first league minutes for the Gunners after an injury ruled him out of action at the Emirates Stadium against the Sky Blues. He entered the field in tricky circumstances, but that is all the more reason to take notice of some punchy contributions in possession that punctuated phases of deeper defending from the champions. A sharp through ball for a marginally offside Kai Havertz stepped up the tempo on one attack, and his slide rule pass for Saka was the sort of distribution that was regularly visible at Newcastle United. ·What the Brazilian adds in midfield Lewis-Skelly and Declan Rice are excellent carriers of the ball, but the Brazilian midfielder provides passing quality and an attitude of exemplary leadership that can give the midfield something different. Ezri Konsa also came on, to a mostly positive reception, in place of Cristhian Mosquera in the 79th minute. The manager explained why he made this substitution in his post-match press conference. "We knew if we had an injury on the backline with Jurrien out, we'd be in big trouble - so we had to do Ezri. Mosquera could not continue, so we know the depth has to be really big when we're fighting for four competitions in the manner that we play as well - so we're going to try to do that. "Mosquera is fine, but he was feeling like he was about to have something, and that's why we have the bench that we have, and that's why we had to bring Ezri in." ·Depth for a four-competition season Konsa's acquisition became a more pressing need when William Saliba was pushed to the limit with his back problems in the World Cup. The 28-year-old is a more senior backup option as a right sided central defender, and he can also fill in for Jurrien Timber when Ben White is not available either. Mosquera might have satisfied the desire from fans for a Timber and Saliba alternative, but his knock on Monday evening exhibited a very real possibility that deputies might not be able to carry the load. Many fans felt that this summer should have been the time to close the talent gap to the attacking units of other elite European teams. Instead, the board backed Arteta with additions to solidify the spine of the side — for much more reasonable fees. That is not to say there could have been more economical reconfiguration of the attack, but the club are already being proven right to reinforce where they have.