Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery admitted that he was a "privileged man" after beating Manchester United 3-1 in his first game in charge at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.
Villa, who took four points off United last season, raced into a two-goal lead with just 11 minutes on the clock. Following Leon Bailey's smart opener, the home side doubled their advantage through an excellent free-kick from Lucas Digne four minutes later.
United, who were evidently stunned by Villa's rapid start, did pull a goal back shortly before half-time, offering them hope of a comeback. Luke Shaw's speculative effort from distance took a wicked deflection off Jacob Ramsey, leaving goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez with no chance of keeping his clean sheet intact.
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However, any hopes Erik ten Hag's troops had of staging a second-half fightback were condemned within four minutes of the restart. Ramsey blasted home Ollie Watkins' low cross to seal the points once and for all, meaning Emery made a winning start to life in charge.
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It also secured Villa's first Premier League home win over United since August 1995. And for Emery, it was an occasion that he is unlikely to ever forget, pointing towards the magnitude of beating the Reds.
"I am a privileged man to be here and to win against them [United]," said Emery. "I enjoyed it a lot today. We were so focussed on our game plan. We were so strong with their (the fans') support.
"It's only one step and we have to achieve regularity and we have to achieve being consistent in the next matches – at home and away. We have a lot of work to do."
The win lifted Villa up to 13th in the table and three points clear of the relegation zone. However, Emery is keen to take things one step at a time.
He added: "I believe in these players, and I know they have been underperforming. We have to take regularity in our way but sometimes they were showing the capacity.
"They may have been doing that before, but we have to play with regularity, be consistent, be disciplined, be organised and I think we made the first step today."
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