Unai Emery had a dream debut as Aston Villa manager, getting his career at Villa Park off to a brilliant season with a huge 3-1 win over Manchester United.
The Villans faced a side that came into the game on a nine-game unbeaten run and not having conceded a goal in their last three games across all competitions.
However, that didn’t deter Emery’s side from running riot over the Red Devils.
They started the game in an exhilarating fashion, leaving the United players exasperated and shocked with two early goals from Leon Bailey and Lucas Digne.
The second goal from the French left-back was a thing of beauty that even left an in-form David de Gea stunned in his goal.
Digne, who has been struggling with his form and failed to impress under former manager Steven Gerrard, appears to be reinvigorated under the Spanish manager.
Luke Shaw’s necessary foul to stop a potential goal allowed Villa a chance to score from a free kick, around 25 yards away from the goal.
While it looked like Douglas Luiz or the opening goal-scorer Bailey were favourites to take it, Digne stepped up and struck a perfect shot that went over the wall and into the top right corner.
The sheer speed of it left De Gea scrambling and unable to keep it out, even with his reflex shot-stopping ability.
But it appears that Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez might’ve had a role in helping create that goal – despite not even being situated in the United half when the set-piece was being taken.
Martinez came all the way away from his line to the mid-way mark, where he proceeded to give some key instructions on how his opposition goalkeeper could be beaten. The Argentine star saw that United had a regular four-man wall situated to try and block the shot.
He instructed two of his Villa teammates to stand together, close to Donny van de Beek, who was standing on the extreme right of United’s four-man wall.
This caused De Gea’s vision to be completely blocked, with the Spaniard not able to properly see which player had taken the free-kick and where the ball was going.
That is exactly why De Gea failed to react quickly enough for the goal-bound free-kick and the ball just slipped barely past his fingers, into the back of the net.
Martinez looked very proud of himself after the free-kick, as he jumped in joy and celebrated with the crowd before going back to his own box.
The Villa goalkeeper was quite sharp in his goal as well, making a few crucial saves to keep his side’s lead intact and ensure that they didn’t give United any room to make a comeback.
He did concede a goal at the end of the first half, but that was only due to a wicked deflection from Jacob Ramsey.
Martinez has also seemingly been rejuvenated by the change in management at Villa Park.
He’s regained lots of confidence before a crucial Qatar World Cup campaign with Argentina, where hopes of millions will be on his shoulders to help Leo Messi win his elusive trophy.
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