Unai Emery offered his thoughts on a 3-1 defeat for Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
The Villans had been on a four-game winless streak in all competitions before they beat **Lille**1-0 in the Europa League on Thursday. But they could not take that momentum into this match against a resurgent Man United as the two teams battle for a Champions League qualifying position.
After a dull first half, **Casemiro**cut the tension in the stadium with a headed goal from a Bruno Fernandes corner. Ross Barkley equalised from a set-piece for the visitors, but Fernandes found Matheus Cunha for United’s second strike of the game before Benjamin Sesko sealed the deal.
“We played good in the first half, but it wasn’t enough because we controlled sometimes like we planned and we were stopping them as well. We were good defensively and we didn’t concede a lot. We had one chance through Ollie Watkins, and it was an equal match in the first half.
*“In the second half we were less dominant against the opponent than the first half, they were dominating more and they scored one goal. We reacted fantastic, drawing, and it was the key moment to try again in our game plan or to score a second goal with one chance, like with Tammy Abraham.*
“We conceded some transitions and they scored. They got the advantage in the result with their goal.
“After it was more difficult for us. We tried but conceded some more transitions and they scored the third goal. We had some chances, but overall, it’s a pity how we were competing, performing and how we lost in some moments the control of the game we had. Through it, they showed their capacity in transition to get the advantage they did.
*“There are still matches to play and points to play for, we are still doing a good season. “We need to react and to recover the structure, like we are working every day to recover it. Today we did some things good and now the next challenge is against Lille and then at home against West Ham.*
“We need to be together, we need to be working with our supporters, trying to help everybody. We need to work hard like we are doing and try to get good results. Today we lost, but we will keep going forward like we did before.”