Aston Villa boss Unai Emery names the one main reason Manchester United won against his side

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Manchester United came from behind to beat Aston Villa in the final home game of 2023.

At half-time there were boos ringing around Old Trafford as the first 45 minutes came to a close.

By full-time the perspective had completely changed, with Manchester United mounting a comeback to go from 2-0 down to 3-2 victors.

The jeers were no kneejerk reaction. This was a frustrated fanbase who had seen the team go four-and-aa-half games without scoring. Then in the second half the goals flowed.

Manchester United scored three times, with a fourth disallowed for offside, and crucially kept the ball out at the other end too. The stadium was a very happy place at the final whistle.

Aston Villa boss praises home support

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has never won away at Manchester United, having failed to do so with Arsenal, Villarreal and Aston Villa.

He praised the Old Trafford crowd and said the home fans made the difference to Erik ten Hag‘s side.

Emery told Amazon Prime: “When they scored their first goal the support here [at Old Trafford], the atmosphere came back and pushed them. They have very good players.

“Of course we have to be demanding of ourselves but accepting as well. Playing Manchester United here they can come back in the style that they did.

“I want to see the match with the first 60 minutes, which was very good, then we have to take experiences. The level we want to get to we have to improve.

“Some of our players already have that experience and of course some of them are now learning and gaining those experiences. Manchester United have more experience than us, more time than us being at the top level.”

Manchester United close the gap

Aston Villa have had an excellent, consistent start to the season, recently beating Manchester City and Arsenal.

The remain above Manchester United in the Premier League table, an impressive eight points ahead. That gap would have been a lot bigger if Emery’s side had won at Old Trafford.

There is a long way to go, with the season now at the halfway mark. If Manchester United can play like they did in the second half against Villa more often, then we expect to see the team climb up the table pretty quickly.