Unai Emery admitted Aston Villa didn’t deserve anything from their trip to Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, after his side was beaten 2-0 by Manchester United.
Emi Martínez’s dismissal on the stroke of half-time gave Villa a difficult task in the second period, when goals from Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen condemned them to defeat.
Emery was frustrated by the “lost opportunity” as Villa missed out on a Champions League place, and despite what he felt was a refereeing “mistake” in the second half, conceded the performance from his team was not good enough.
He said: “Today, we lost the opportunity, but we didn’t deserve more.
“We started the match today, poor in our performances, collectively and individually.
“It was the key moment for the sending off of Emiliano Martínez and, of course, after it, we needed to be resilient, we needed to defend, we needed to defend low block, goalkeeper, and believe in our moment to get some attacking actions, or some corners.
“We scored one goal, and normally this goal, if the referee was under his control, this moment, to wait before to whistle this action, I think it was a goal, after VAR. We watched on the TV.
“But we are making mistakes, the players, they are making mistakes and the referees, sometimes they are making mistakes.
“We have to accept it. We lost and we didn’t deserve more.”
Post match also brought about the opportunity for Emery to reflect on Villa’s progress and achievements, with European football on the horizon for a third successive season in 2025/26.
Results elsewhere meant a point would have secured a Champions League spot for the Villans, but Emery took consolation from the fact they were able to ensure Europa League football with two games of the season to spare.
The Spaniard added: “Frustrated today, but we are in the Europa League, we are in Europe.
“Last year in Conference League, this year in Champions League and next year in Europa League.
“To be in Europe is important and being in three years in a row I think is something we are showing our consistency.”
