Aston Villa’s life under Unai Emery got off to a flying start, as they comfortably beat a disappointing Manchester United side at Villa Park. 
 

The home side scored twice in the first twelve minutes through Leon Bailey and a stunning free-kick from Lucas Digne. The visitors pulled one back after Luke Shaw’s effort was deflected off Jacob Ramsey just before the break. 
 

However,  minutes after the restart, Ramsey was on the right side of the scoresheet, when he smashed a first-time effort past David De Gea to confirm all three points for Aston Villa
 

Following the conclusion of the match, what four things did we learn from Sunday’s game? 
 

The Spaniard took charge of the football club on Tuesday morning, following his move from Villarreal, and his presence quickly shone on his side. 
 

Throughout Sunday’s game, Aston Villa played with a real sense of purpose and flare throughout the game, and even players low on confidence shone. One player in particular was winger Leon Bailey who has had a mixed start at Villa Park, but was the best player on the pitch against Manchester United
 

The back four looked very comfortably, which is especially surprising given they conceded four times during their last Premier League outing against Newcastle United.
 

Unai Emery has also managed to make his side less wasteful in front of goal, as almost every effort went either on target or were blocked. Instead of trying to walk the ball in, players were not afraid to run at the opposition and take chances on sight.
 

It’s definitely a strong start to life at Villa Park, and Aston Villa fans will be hoping it is a sign of things to come. 
 

  • Is Bailey back? 

Since making his big money move from German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen, winger Leon Bailey has had a very mixed start to his career in England. 
 

He has not struggled for goal involvement, but in matches there has been times when he has struggled to get out of second gear. This cannot be said for his performance on Sunday, as Bailey was comfortably the best player on the pitch and looked a real threat every time he went forward. 
 

He also added a goal to his tally, and took his chance brilliantly despite coming so early in the game. Bailey also had an affect on the second goal, and Manchester United simply couldn’t handle him and were possibly relieved when he was substituted towards the end of the second-half.  
 

If Unai Emery can continue to get the best out of the Jamaican international, it would give Aston Villa another dimension to their already stacked attacking options, further boosting their push for a mid-table/top-half finish. 
 

  • Where was the United midfield? 

One thing that manager Eric Ten Haag will be bitterly disappointed about, is his sides disappointing display, particularly in midfield. Setting up with a midfield trio of Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Donny Van De Beek, it should have given the front three some support as well as supporting the back four.
 

However, for whatever reason, this did not happen and if anything, it cost the away side the game. Brazilian international Casemiro, did not necessarily have a poor game, but he wasn’t supported as much as he should have been.
 

Meanwhile, Eriksen and Van De Beek struggled to get out of the starting blocks. They were dispossessed far to easily, failed to create chances for the front three meaning they were feeding off scraps and failed to track runners, resulting in the third Aston Villa goal.  

 

It is a well known issue that Manchester United are struggling in midfield, especially without Bruno Fernandes and unfortunately that has ultimately cost them the game, as well as coming up against a very strong Aston Villa side. 
 

  • Were United lucky not to lose a man?

During the game, there were two big incidents which could have seen Manchester United reduced to ten men. One of these was revised by VAR, whilst the second wasn’t even looked at. 
 

Firstly, Cristiano Ronaldo was involved in a heated altercation with Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings. The pair appeared to be involved in a wrestling match which saw both players booked. However, on another day, Ronaldo could have seen red. 
 

Minutes later, Lisandro Martinez appeared to elbow Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey on three separate occasions during the same incident. Bizarrely this incident was never reviewed by VAR, and if it had, it would have almost definitely saw further punishment for the Argentinian. 
 

Therefore, on another day, Manchester United could have been placed in even further trouble. With the atmosphere already turning toxic at Old Trafford, this would have made Eric Ten Haag’s job even more difficult. 

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