MANCHESTER, Dec 10: Unai Emery came back to haunt Arsenal on Saturday as Aston Villa cut another English Premier League title challenger down to size.
A 1-0 win at Villa Park set a new club record of 15 straight home victories in the league and moved Emery’s team to within two points of first-placed Liverpool.
How sweet it must have been for the Spanish coach to get the better of his former club after being fired by Arsenal in 2019. He had already rebuilt his reputation before taking over a Villa team that was in danger of being relegated last season. But his work with the Midlands club could be his finest yet in a career that has seen him win four Europa League titles.
Third-placed Villa looks like a serious title contender after a recent run that includes wins against Manchester City and Tottenham.
John McGinn scored the only goal after seven minutes and Villa held on to deny late-goal specialist Arsenal an equaliser that manager Mikel Arteta believed was the least his team deserved.
FANS TURN
Erik ten Hag looked like he had the weight of the world on his mind after another setback for Manchester United against Bournemouth.
An abject performance by United at home saw it lose 3-0 and spark loud jeers from the Old Trafford crowd.
Goals by Dominic Solanke, Philip Billing and Marcos Senesi piled the misery on Ten Hag, a day after he was named the Premier League manager of November.
It was United’s seventh defeat in the league and 11th defeat in all competitions. It was all the more perplexing just three days after United’s mood-lifting defeat of Chelsea by 2-1. United missed a chance to go level on points with fourth-placed Manchester City.
“Of course (I’m) annoyed, disappointed, definitely. I expected something different,” Ten Hag said.
“I hoped before the game you can build on the performance and result from Chelsea, so it’s very disappointing.”
WILDER WINS
It didn’t take long for Chris Wilder to get a reaction from Sheffield United after returning to the club as manager this week. Having suffered defeat to Liverpool in midweek, he led his team to a 1-0 win against Brentford in his second game in charge.
James McAtee scored the decisive goal in first-half stoppage time.
But Sheffield United remained at the bottom of the table after 19th-placed Burnley drew with Brighton 1-1.
The bottom two are level on eight points each.
COOPER PRESSURE
Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper faced mounting speculation about his job after losing 5-0 at Fulham in the week. His team led at Wolves on Saturday through Harry Toffolo, but was denied a win by Matheus Cunha’s strike. A 1-1 draw at least halted Forest’s four-game losing run. (AP)
