Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was furious at Leon Bailey for losing the ball before Manchester United restored the lead at Old Trafford
Aston Villa's Leon Bailey and Man United's Bruno Fernandes
Unai Emery was furious at Aston Villa's Leon Bailey during the game against Man United(Image: CameraSport via Getty Images)
View Image
Unai Emery has explained the real reason he was angry at Leon Bailey before Manchester United restored their lead against Aston Villa.
The winger lost the ball cheaply in the final third, allowing Matheus Cunha to put United back in front shortly after Ross Barkley had equalised for Villa.
Casemiro had opened the scoring for United early in the second half, but the game was effectively decided in the 82nd minute, when Benjamin Sesko extended the lead to two goals for the hosts.
Emery was visibly angry with Bailey the moment he lost possession on the counter-attack, jumping up and down and seemingly trying to rip his coat off. His pass to Morgan Rogers was easily intercepted, allowing Cunha to run past Ezri Konsa and beat Emi Martinez to score.
“It is difficult because it was an exciting moment,” Emery explained when asked about why he went ballistic at Bailey. “Leon Bailey, just before, he did a good action to Abraham, creating a very good chance.
“When we got in transition, we were not really dominating. They had more defenders than we had attackers.
“In this action, Leon Bailey was alone with Luke Shaw, and there were two players with Morgan Rogers. I was trying to get Bailey to stop and get passes to get positioning in attack.
“Why? We planned before that the transition of them [United] is really fantastic. In this moment, the match was being played through the emotions. Maybe if Abraham scored, we’d be speaking now differently.
“We needed to control the game like we did in some moments in the game. I can’t tell nothing to the players, because I know the effort they are doing to recover their confidence and getting our structure stronger again.”
The latest Villa headlines sent straight to your phone
Join our Aston Villa WhatsApp group and get the latest breaking news, interviews and opinion sent straight to your phone, plus matchday team news and live updates of all the action. Just click on this link and select ‘Join Community’ to get started. The only proviso is that you must have WhatsApp on your phone to participate. It's a free service. No one will be able to see your personal information and you will only receive messages from our Villa writers.
We will not spam your WhatsApp feed with constant messages, but you will receive updates from us daily with the latest Villa news. If you later decide to opt out, just go to the name at the top of your screen and click 'Exit Group'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. Click here to read our Privacy Notice
Every day, the BirminghamLive football desk strive to deliver news, features and transfer-related stories as a part of our overall package of Aston Villa content.
Our dedicated reporter John Townley -who you can follow on X - follows Villa home and away and offers you comprehensive coverage from matchdays, press conferences and everything that happens in between.
You can keep on top of the very latest updates when they occurwith our free daily Aston Villa newsletter, giving you a round-up of the key stories in your email inbox.
If you want your favourite content straight to your phone,then sign up to get breaking updates and the biggest stories in and around the club on WhatsApp.
You can also get the latest Villa stories on your phone via the BirminghamLive app - which you can personalise - either on Apple or Android.
And our weekly Aston Villa podcast, Claret and Blue, available to watch and listen on all major streaming services. You can subscribe tothe YouTube channel, or access the podcaston Spotify orvia Apple.