A new era for Aston Villa began with a reminder for their opponents that rebuilding under a new manager is rarely a straightforward process. Unai Emery’s first game in charge brought a famous and fully deserved win that ended Manchester United’s nine-game unbeaten run, punctured the sense of progress that Erik ten Hag has built of late and inflicted United’s first Premier League defeat at Villa Park since 1995.
It was after that game – which also finished 3-1 – that Alan Hansen claimed Alex Ferguson’s side would “win nothing with kids”. That infamously proved to be an overly pessimistic assessment but, 27 years later, it would be hard to be too critical of this United performance. Even their goal was scored by a Villa player, with Luke Shaw’s effort deflecting in off Jacob Ramsey to offer brief hope of a fightback that never arrived.
