By Peter Hall
BIRMINGHAM, England (Reuters) – Aston Villa manager Unai Emery tasted victory in his first game in charge as his side beat Manchester United 3-1 in the Premier League on Sunday, the visitors’ first defeat in 10 matches in all competitions.
Former Arsenal boss Emery was given a warm welcome by 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 inside 11 minutes.
Leon Bailey arrowed a strike into the bottom corner to give Villa the lead, 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.
United improved a great deal as the half wore on, creating several openings before Luke Shaw’s strike took a huge deflection off Jacob Ramsey and found the net on the cusp of halftime 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 two-goal advantage.
Tempers flared as the match reached its climax, but United could not muster a comeback, losing for the first time at Villa Park in the league since 1995 to stay fifth in the standings as a well-deserved victory lifted Villa to 14th.
(Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Ed Osmond)
