Unai Emery emerged victorious from his first match in charge of Aston Villa after a superb display against Manchester United at Villa Park on Sunday.
The head coach masterminded the club’s first win in a Premier League home game versus the Red Devils since 1995 on the back of a flying start in B6.
Leon Bailey drove home the opener with seven minutes played before Lucas Digne netted a delightful free-kick to double the lead shortly after.
Luke Shaw’s deflected strike just before half-time failed to deter the hosts, who wrapped up all three points when Jacob Ramsey slammed home a pass from the influential Ollie Watkins minutes after the restart.
Ahead of kick-off, the club marked Remembrance Day when serving and veteran military personnel from the Military Lions official supporters club laid wreaths on the halfway line followed by a rendition of the Last Post by Sergeant Timothy Hynde of the Central Band of the Royal Air Force.
Emery, who was given a rousing reception when he appeared from the tunnel, opted to make two changes to the starting XI from the team’s last outing against Newcastle United, bringing Digne and Ramsey into the line-up.
And his changes produced almost instantaneous results as Ramsey had a major hand in the first goal after seven minutes. The homegrown hero picked the ball up after fine work by Watkins, threading a pass through to Bailey and watching on as the Jamaican fired a low left-foot shot across David de Gea and into the far corner.
Less than four minutes later, Emery’s decision to bring Digne back into the team paid off handsomely too. After Ramsey had been scythed down by Shaw, the Frenchman stepped up and curled a free-kick over the wall and away from de Gea’s despairing dive.
Emi Martínez, who played his part in the goal by directing teammates from the halfway line, celebrated as wildly as anyone in the ground, and for the first half an hour that was his biggest involvement as Villa were untroubled at the back.
However, United did begin to find their feet in the final third and drew two fine saves out of the Argentine via Alejandro Garnacho’s drive and Cristiano Ronaldo’s header.
And just seconds before first-half stoppage time was announced over the tannoy, Martínez was beaten when Shaw’s half-volley took a wicked deflection off Ramsey and flew into the unmanned half of Villa’s goal.
The home side started the second half with renewed attacking intent, seeing Bailey fire a fierce drive at de Gea just eight seconds after the restart.
Villa’s offensive approach was rewarded shortly after when more fantastic play from Watkins, who dribbled from the halfway line into United’s box before pulling the ball back, left the onrushing Ramsey with a simple finish from close range.
With their two-goal lead restored, Emery’s team continued to play with fluency and confidence in attack while restricting their visitors to fleeting moments of promise at the other end.
Boubacar Kamara, who returned after a six-game absence, Ashley Young and Danny Ings were sent on with 12 minutes remaining as Watkins, Emi Buendia and Digne were given a deserved standing ovation.
The changes had the desired effect of seeing out the match without any further incident, leaving a sold-out stadium to serenade Villa and their new head coach at the final whistle.
Wow, and this is the same team that was struggling to win matches under Gerrard.