BIRMINGHAM, Nov 7: Unai Emery made the perfect start as Aston Villa manager with a 3-1 win against Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.
The former Arsenal boss took charge of his first game which will give Villa fans hope he can turn the season around.
But it was another setback for United manager Erik ten Hag, who watched his team lose away in the league for the third time this season.
Emery could not have hoped for a better start, with Villa taking an early two-goal lead.
Leon Bailey opened the scoring after seven minutes after racing past Lisandro Martinez and driving a low shot beyond David de Gea.
Villa doubled the lead just four minutes later, with Lucas Digne curling a 22-yard free kick past United’s goalkeeper.
Ten Hag might have feared the worst in a season when his team has twice gone in at halftime 4-0 down. But hope of a comeback came just before the break when Luke Shaw’s strike deflected off Jacob Ramsey and into his own net.
The Villa player made amends four minutes into the second half when restoring his team’s two-goal advantage. United left him completely unmarked in the box to fire into the top corner after being picked out by Ollie Watkins.
If Emery expected a fightback, it never materialized, with Villa comfortably seeing out the win.
Also, Newcastle secured a sixth win in its last seven games by beating Southampton 4-1.
Eddie Howe’s team is emerging as a serious contender for Champions League qualification and possibly more after its outstanding start to the season.
The win moved it up to third ahead of fourth-place Tottenham’s game against Liverpool later Sunday.
Miguel Almiron opened the scoring on 35 minutes when he evaded a challenge from Ainsley Maitland-Niles and side-footed past Gavin Bazunu into the bottom left corner.
Newcastle doubled the lead in the 58th when substitute Chris Wood pivoted in the box and directed a shot into the bottom corner.
Four minutes later, Joe Willock made it 3-0 with a low strike after good work from Kieran Trippier.
Romain Perraud denied Newcastle a clean sheet as he drove into the area and fired into the top corner.
But Southampton’s celebrations were short-lived as Bruno Guimaraes responded immediately and curled past a diving Bazunu.
Elsewhere, Michael Olise struck in the fourth minute of added time to secure a 2-1 win for Crystal Palace at West Ham.
The late goal completed a comeback by the visitors after Said Benrahma had fired West Ham in front in the first half and Wilfried Zaha equalized.
Olise’s winner came after West Ham saw a penalty overturned late in the game.
That paved the way for late drama, with Olise’s effort taking a heavy deflection off Aaron Cresswell and looping past Lukasz Fabianski in the West Ham goal.
West Ham went ahead in style after Benrahma unleashed a drive past Vicente Guaita.
It was a glorious strike but the West Ham defence undid all his good work with a horror show five minutes before half-time.
There was no danger as Fabianski rolled the ball to Craig Dawson, who in turn sent it towards Thilo Kehrer on the right wing. But the Germany international lost the ball to Eberechi Eze and Zaha outmuscled Dawson before lashing past Fabianski.
Olise’s late strike then sealed the win. (AP)
