Aston Villa manager Unai Emery gave an honest verdict on Manchester United after his side suffered a setback on Sunday evening.
Manchester United beat Aston Villa 3-1 to move three points clear in third spot as the victors remained fourth in the Premier League.
Casemiro, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko got on the scoresheet for United, while Ross Barkley briefly drew his side level, but two goals from Michael Carrick’s men sealed the important win at Old Trafford.
With Villa also competing for a Champions League spot, after a strong start to the 2025/26 season, the result came as a blow for Unai Emery and his players.
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Unai Emery on the touchline at Old Trafford
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Unai Emery hails Man Utd after Aston Villa defeat
Emery is the second manager linked with the United job that Carrick has beaten since becoming head coach in January. The other was Oliver Glasner, who is set to leave Crystal Palace at the end of the season.
However, Villa are still competing with United to qualify for the Champions League, but their latest defeat means they’ve lost ground in the race to return to Europe’s most prestigious tournament.
Emery didn’t hide away from the fact it was a ‘bad result’ for Villa when asked by Match of the Day, but he accepted that they faced a huge challenge at Old Trafford.
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“Bad result,” Emery said.
“We played 90 minutes trying to continue in our mentality and the good form we had in Lille, but today was a huge challenge.
“The first half was equal. In the second half, we started poorly, they dominated more, and we needed to react and try to get control of the game.”
The Spaniard was also impressed by how United performed, especially in the second half.
“Manchester United are at a high level and to face them today was a huge challenge for us,” Emery added.
“We are competing and were with the same points.
“Today, we finish three points behind them. Keep going, we must use the points we had before to try to keep going, keep fighting and keep recovering tactically and with confidence.”
Villa need to improve their form domestically if they are to remain in the top four places, though it bodes well for Emery that neither Liverpool or Chelsea are showing much consistency.
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10 defeats against Man Utd for Unai Emery
Sunday’s win over Villa was the 10th time Emery has suffered defeat against United.
The 54-year-old has managed in 18 games against United throughout his career, winning just four and drawing as many.
Most of the games ended in defeat for Emery, except the 2021 Europa League final when his Villarreal side got the better of the Red Devils in Gdansk.
That defeat spoiled Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s chance of winning silverware as United manager.
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