A well-struck late winner from Ross Barkley maintained Aston Villa’s impressive 100 per cent start to the Premier League season at Leicester City’s expense.

Two of the Premier League’s early frontrunners looked set to cancel each other out in a competitive encounter in which chances were at a premium, as debutant defender Wesley Fofana impressed for the hosts.

The visitors Head Coach Dean Smith opted to field the same starting that dismantled Liverpool 7-2 last time out.

Their attackers took the plaudits that day, but it was Villa’s defence that was examined often against a lively Leicester side who’d scored 12 times in their opening four league games.

Having weathered spells of pressure from the hosts, the visitors came within inches from opening the scoring when Trezeguet prodded Jack Grealish’s cut-back wide after 26 minutes.

Fresh from his first England start against Wales last week, Grealish was dictating his side’s attacking play from the left wing as Villa began to control the game as the half wore on.

A sumptuous back heel released Matt Targett, but the full-back’s cross failed to connect with a teammate as a low-key first half came to an end.

Timothy Castagne was at the heart of Leicester’s best work early on before Villa’s Matt Targett sent a free-kick wide before half-time.

Esri Konsa put a header narrowly wide for the Villans nine minutes after the break as the visitors’ threat increased.

Soon after substitute Bertrand Traore sent a header straight at Kasper Schmeichel, Villa burst forward again in stoppage time and Barkley was allowed to travel through the middle of the pitch before sending the ball flying low into the corner of the Leicester goal to win the game for Villa.

Ross Barkley with a beauty to win the game for Aston Villa…

👏🔵 pic.twitter.com/1cqm8OTLOb

— LDN (@LDNFootbalI) October 18, 2020

The win sends Villa second, on 12 points and one point behind leaders Everton, while Leicester are fourth on nine points.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s double was all AC Milan needed to overcome Inter Milan, beating the Antonio Conte’s side 2-1 in the intense Derby della Madonnina.

The Serie A’s veteran early brace – including a rebound from his saved penalty – allowed Milan to stay top with a perfect record.

In the opening minute, Achraf Hakimi nutmegged Theo Hernandez to test Gianluigi Donnarumma with a cross-shot, but Aleksandar Kolarov gifted Milan an early penalty for his reckless tackle on Ibrahimovic. Samir Handanovic confirmed his status as the best spot-kick stopper in Serie A, but could do nothing on Ibrahimovic’s rebound tap-in.

The Rossoneri doubled their lead moments later with a perfect counter-attacking move. Davide Calabria charged down two Ivan Perisic crosses, Hakan Calhanoglu’s cross-field pass sent Rafael Leao down the left and his cross was tapped in by Ibrahimovic at the back post.

Inter got back into it with the first goal Milan have conceded in Serie A this season, as Perisic got down the left and pulled it back across the six-yard box for the Romelu Lukaku tap-in from five yards.

Lautaro Martinez thought he had equalised when the header from Hakimi’s cross on the counter looped over Donnarumma, but Simon Kjaer was there to clear off the line.

Suddenly, Inter were pouring forward and Nicolò Barella stung Donnarumma’s gloves, while Lukaku’s free header from a corner whistled inches wide.

Hakimi did everything right going down the left except the pull-back, which was beyond Lukaku and allowed Ismael Bennacer to intercept from Lautaro Martinez.

Rafael Leao drilled wide, but Franck Kessie was perhaps fortunate not to receive a second yellow for his mistimed tackle on Hakimi.

Inter came so close to an equaliser on the hour mark, Arturo Vidal floating a ball to the back post for unmarked Hakimi, whose diving header whistled inches wide of the far stick.

Rade Krunic wasted the chance to finish it off for the Rossoneri, who were largely focused on the counter in the second half, firing over the bar.

There was confusion after Inter were awarded a penalty on 74 minutes. It was a very debatable decision, as Donnarumma did everything possible to get out of the way and Lukaku left his leg trailing, but VAR resolved it anyway by calling offside. Antonio Conte argued Kjaer had played the ball, but it was considered a ricochet more than a genuine pass.

Lukaku threatened again in stoppages after a give-and-go with Barella, sticking out a long leg to prod past both Donnarumma and the far post.

There was one more scare with the last kick of the game, a Lukaku back-heel flick not enough to surprise Donnarumma, as Milan won their first Serie A derby since January 2016.