Unai Emery has explained the real reason he went crazy on the sidelines at Leon Bailey before Manchester United restored their lead against Aston Villa during Sunday’s potentially damaging Premier League defeat.

Villa’s grip on a top-five finish took another hit after they suffered their third successive league defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday, although they were at least thankful to Chelsea losing and Liverpool only earning a point at home to struggling Tottenham.

Casemiro had opened the scoring for the home side early in the second half, but the game was effectively decided in the 82nd minute, when substitute Benjamin Sesko extended the lead to two goals for the hosts.

Emerywas visibly angry with Aston Villaforward Bailey the moment he lost possession on the counter-attack, jumping up and down and seemingly trying to rip his coat off.

His pass to Morgan Rogers was easily intercepted, allowing Matheus Cunha to run past Ezri Konsa and beat Emi Martinez to score.

READ: 16 Conclusions from Liverpool 1-1 Tottenham: Richarlison, Ngumoha, Salah, Tudor, Slot and what next?

Speaking after the game, Emery explained why he went ballistic at Bailey: “It is difficult because it was an exciting moment. Leon Bailey, just before, he did a good action to Abraham, creating a very good chance.

“When we got in transition, we were not really dominating. They had more defenders than we had attackers.

“In this action, Leon Bailey was alone with Luke Shaw, and there were two players with Morgan Rogers. I was trying to get Bailey to stop and get passes to get positioning in attack.

“Why? We planned before that the transition of them [United] is really fantastic. In this moment, the match was being played through the emotions. Maybe if Abraham scored, we’d be speaking now differently.

“We needed to control the game like we did in some moments in the game. I can’t tell nothing to the players, because I know the effort they are doing to recover their confidence and getting our structure stronger again.”

Meanwhile, Micah Richards sprung to the defence of Emery after Villa crashed to defeat at Old Trafford, suggesting that the loss to United was not the Villa chief’s fault.

Speaking on Match of the Day, the former Villa defender said: “With the amount of games, they look very tired. Losing Tielemans, he’s the one who can create something; he’s defensively astute and knows exactly where to be, and Kamara also. Cash as well, with his energy up and down.

“You look at the results, and they haven’t been good enough in terms of losing their last three in the Premier League.

“They look tired, and they’ve got players missing. It’s no fault of Emery.”

READ MORE: Premier League 2025/26 prize money table and final possible positions calculated