Unai Emery smiling and clapping towards a circle inset of Jadon Sancho
Credit: Imago and TNT Sports
Max Wilkins
Fri 12 December 2025 16:10, UK
Jadon Sancho has come under heavy scrutiny after Aston Villa beat Basel on Thursday.
The winger came in from the start as Villa secured a 2-1 win over Basel to move third in the Europa League table with two games remaining.
Evann Guessand scored the opener against Basel as the Ivory Coast featured on the opposite flank to the Manchester United loanee.
This was just the Englishman’s fourth start on the continent since Sancho signed for Villa from Man United on deadline day in the summer.
Sancho may not have performed at the top level in Switzerland, but one moment will have caught Unai Emery’s eye as fans were left frustrated.
Jadon Sancho playing for Aston Villa
Credit: Imago
Jadon Sancho fuming after coming off vs Basel
Guessand was poor despite scoring for Villa, and the same can be said of his fellow wideman, with Sancho not getting on the scoresheet.
The Englishman generally struggled against a compact Basel defence as the home side were willing to sit back and wait on the claret and blue outfit to make their move.
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Youri Tielemans took aim from outside the box to score the winning goal, as a moment of quality was needed to secure another league phase three points.
Sancho had failed to showcase his talents and was ultimately removed and replaced by Morgan Rogers with 64 minutes gone.
The ex-Borussia Dortmund man was far from happy with the decision as he hit out at a seat on the bench before eventually sitting down.
This hasn’t gone down well in the wider football world, but it feels like the sort of thing that Emery will surely be pleased about.
Sancho struggled for Aston Villa vs Basel
The Spanish head coach loves to see passion from his players and always wants them to improve and learn from each game.
By slamming a chair, Sancho may have gone about things the wrong way, but a player should never be pleased to come off the pitch.
The Englishman knows his performance could have been better, having failed to trouble Marwin Hitz with his one effort on goal and to complete a single dribble.
He lost all but one of his attempted duels, maintaining a frustrating 25 per cent ground duel success rate, which just isn’t good enough.
Jadon Sancho looking annoyed for Aston Villa
Credit: Imago
There were pluses to Sancho’s game, where he created the most chances on the pitch with three and maintained a 100 per cent long ball accuracy.
Things could have been better, but it is just good to see that he cares and isn’t happy with his performance or being taken off.
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