Unai Emery says ‘he felt like he was dreaming’ during Aston Villa’s huge 3-1 win over Man United

Unai Emery has said he felt like he was ‘dreaming’ after getting off to the ‘perfect’ start at Aston Villa, with a huge 3-1 victory over Manchester United. 

The Spaniard arrived at the club earlier this week, making his return to the Premier League after he left Arsenal for Villareal back in 2019. 

And it was the dream start to life in the midlands for the 51-year-old, with his side outclassing Man United with an early goal from Leon Bailey and a stunning free kick from Lucas Digne, which left Erik ten Hag’s side stunned at the start of the match. 

Unai Emery’ (pictured) said he felt he was ‘dreaming’ during his debut at Villa Park on Saturday

Aston Villa defeated Man United in a huge 3-1 victory at Villa Park during Emery’s first game 

While Emery interestingly never lost to United while he was in charge at the Emirates, the former Villarreal boss was over the moon with the result. 

‘Maybe I was dreaming,’ Emery said. ‘Today I am so happy. The atmosphere was amazing with the supporters.

‘We have players with energy. We have players with good skills and we wanted to be united, to be disciplined and, being together with our game plan, the players did it. It was a special day.’

Emery (pictured) returned to the Premier League this weekend after leaving Arsenal in 2019

His side went two goals up inside the first half with Lucas Digne scoring an incredible free kick

Leon Bailey (pictured) got the first for the home side, beating David de Gea with a low effort

Despite conceding an own goal before half time, which was perhaps the only blemish for Emery in his perfect return to the English top flight, his team continued to attack, with Jacob Ramsey drilling the ball past David de Gea in the second half to seal the match. 

While there is a lot to celebrate tonight for Emery, the manager urged that he ‘needs to stay calm’, with Aston Villa still only three points clear of the relegation zone. 

‘My challenge here is to be consistent. Today was so important to win given we haven’t beat them here in a long time. The positive energy from the supporters is necessary for the players.

Tempers flared during the match as Cristiano Ronaldo and Tyrone Mings clashed 

But Emery (pictured) urged calm among his players and himself who have only ‘taken first step’

‘It was all perfect. I have passion and I have to stay calm myself and I will tell the players on Tuesday, ‘We have only made the first step’. We did it but now we must keep consistent.’

The Birmingham club will travel to the Amex Stadium next Sunday where they will face a bounding Brighton side, who moved up to sixth in the table this weekend, following a hard fought 3-2 win against Wolves. 

But Emery will no doubt be looking forward to the World Cup break that will follow, which will give him time some time to take stock and figure out what needs to be done to propel the Villains up the league table.