Football: Emery gets winning start at Villa as Shaw bemoans United’s slow start

BIRMINGHAM – The longest away unbeaten sequence involving two English Premier League teams ended on Sunday after Aston Villa comfortably beat Manchester United 3-1 at Villa Park on Unai Emery’s return to English football.

The Red Devils were previously unbeaten in 23 games at Villa Park, winning 15 and drawing eight matches before Sunday. The last time United lost to Villa in the league was also a 3-1 defeat in the 1995 season, but United eventually bounced back to win the title.

United left-back Luke Shaw bemoaned his side’s slow start which saw them go 2-0 down after just 11 minutes but conceded his team were “were not good enough”.

Referring to Emery’s Villa debut after arriving from Spanish La Liga side Villarreal at the start of November, the England international told the BBC: “We knew they were coming out with a new manager and a new feeling. We did expect it. But in games like this, if you start slowly in the first 20 minutes, then you are going to lose.

“We were not good enough. We have always got to believe we can win games even when we’re 2-0 down. We conceded early in the second half and it’s a mountain to climb after that.

“If you watch the game back, you’ll see we made a sloppy start. They were finding spaces and pockets and turning with ease. That is not good enough. We didn’t deserve to win.”

Despite the dismal record, the warning signs were there for United, with Villa having taken four points off United last season, as many as they did in their 17 previous league meetings.

Former Arsenal boss Emery was given a warm welcome by the home supporters ahead of the match, and he could not have wished for a better start to life back in the Premier League as Villa raced into a two-goal lead.

Leon Bailey arrowed a strike into the bottom corner to put Villa ahead, before Lucas Digne curled a sublime free kick past the despairing dive of United goalkeeper David de Gea, much to Emery’s delight on the touchline.

Emery said this is just the “first step” for his new team and praised his charges, saying: “We have the players with the good skills.”

He told the BBC: “The supporters were amazing supporting us and the players were great with the plan. First step is take confidence, start with energy and the supporters supported with their response.

“The way we played the 90 minutes we can be optimistic but only first step and we have to work a lot to keep improving.”

United improved as the half wore on before Shaw’s strike took a huge deflection off Jacob Ramsey and found the net on the cusp of half-time to give the visitors hope.

Those hopes were quickly dashed, however, as Ramsey made amends, finding the top corner four minutes into the second half to restore Villa’s advantage.

In the process, the 21-year-old academy product became just the fourth player in Premier League history to record a goal, assist and own goal in a Premier League match, following in the footsteps of Gareth Bale (Nov 2012), Wayne Rooney (Oct 2012) and Kevin Davies (Dec 2008).

The English midfielder told the BBC: “It’s been a tough couple of weeks with the old gaffer getting sacked. There has been a lot of tactical work this week and the game plan worked.

“When the new gaffer came in, he said it was a clean slate. He gave us a lot of confidence and belief and I think it showed on the pitch.

“Manchester United have got top players and we knew we were going to be on the backfoot for periods.”

On his goal, he said: “Ollie (Watkins) is good at taking on players and he has put it on a plate for me.”

Tempers flared as the match reached its climax, but United could not muster a comeback and stay fifth in the standings as Villa moved to 13th. REUTERS