Aston Villa manager Unai Emery admits he was a “privileged man” after beating Manchester United 3-1 in his first game in charge at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.
The Spaniard ended a long wait for the Villains as he registered their first home win over United in the league since August 1995.
Emery’s Villa side went two goals ahead with just 11 minutes on the clock. Leon Bailey opened the scoring and the home side doubled their lead through a free-kick from former Everton full-back Lucas Digne four minutes later.
It came as a sucker-punch for United but we never woke up.
Luke Shaw got a lucky deflection on the brink of half-time to make it 2-1, but United conceded again early in the second half to throw any momentum they had into the bin. Jacob Ramsey sealed the win with Villa’s third goal to make it a debut to remember for Emery.
“I am a privileged man to be here and to win against them [United],” said Emery, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News. “I enjoyed it a lot today. We were so focussed on our game plan. We were so strong with their (the fans’) support.
“It’s only one step and we have to achieve regularity and we have to achieve being consistent in the next matches – at home and away. We have a lot of work to do.”
Villa sit 13th in the Premier League after beating United.
United lose momentum
The result means United fail to make ground on the race for top four.
Next week’s trip to Fulham becomes a must win – like every other game we have after the World Cup.
Hopefully none of our key players pick up any serious injuries in Qatar because that could really ruin any chances we have this season.
