Unai Emery’s face contorted as he realised a familiar pattern was unfolding. Aston Villa’s manager rarely relaxes on the sidelines but this was a new level of anguish.
The best way to describe the fidgeting, the scowling and disbelief was to say he looked like a man who had logged onto his bank account and saw the numbers spinning backwards in front of his eyes, as quickly as sand runs through an hourglass. One moment it’s all there, the next it’s gone. This isn’t about money – it’s about identity.
How does he get it back? It is a question that will keep him awake at night. John McGinn, Villa’s captain, calls ‘every day a school day’ with Emery, so ambitious is the Spaniard to squeeze every last drop of improvement from his team, but the only conclusion is the pupils – for now – have stopped listening.
Harsh? Not in the slightest. We will come to Sunderland soon – and what a joy it is to see a newly-promoted team thriving against the odds – but the fact Emery scuttled down the tunnel 30 seconds before the end of the game, fizzing like a shaken bottle of pop, ensured the spotlight was all for Villa.
Emery, evidently, was volcanic. There was no relief to be taken from Matty Cash scoring Villa’s first Premier League goal since May 16, a right foot drive from 25 yards ending 534 barren minutes, and there wasn’t even any satisfaction to be taken from nudging their tally up by a point.
No. A team as expensively assembled as Villa, with established internationals in almost every position, should have taken cold, calculating care of one that has just come up from the Championship and had to spend 62 minutes playing at a numerical disadvantage.
Unai Emery’s face contorted as he realised a familiar pattern was unfolding during their 1-1 draw with Sunderland
A team as expensively assembled as Villa, with established internationals should have taken cold, calculating care of one that has just come up from the Championship
What a glorious opportunity this was for Villa to boost their confidence. Reinildo Mandava was guilty of stupidity, nothing else, when he flicked out at Cash in the 33rd minute but referee Sam Barrott couldn’t wait to expel the left-back and that decision, really, should have proven decisive.
Instead, Villa invited you to use words such as inertia, ponderous and anaemic. None of it was too much, as they never touched the ball in Sunderland’s area inside the first 25 minutes; they moved the ball slovenly, lacked the meticulousness Emery demands when they work together defensively.
Here was a performance that left Emery looking like he had been personally affronted and he spat out his assessment with venom. You can be sure that if performances don’t change soon, the personnel responsible for them on the field will be removed from the fray.
‘We were conceding a lot of chances,’ he said. ‘The chances are starting with their goalkeeper! Long ball; second action. Throw-in, corner, in our box. Why? We were not dominating control with one player more, making passes and taking the right moment to attack. We were not doing it!’
Listening to him smoulder through 10 minutes in front of the microphones, Emery gave you the impression he was one thought away from banging his fists on the table in temper. It took him 30 seconds before, as always, he offered his impeccably polite usual greeting of: ‘good afternoon’.
But it hadn’t been a good afternoon, not by any stretch of the imagination. Villa, when they are at their best, exude power and pace; it works like clockwork, the movement from back to front, and it only functions so smoothly because Emery has left nothing to chance.
So you watched the huff and the puff here, all those overhit passes and runs down blind alleys, and wondered what was going on. Forget about any gripes surrounding the transfer window, for Villa had enough talent on the pitch to make this contest straightforward.
Instead, Sunderland were tenacious – wonderfully so. This fantastic stadium caught fire after the dismissal of Mandava, the sense of injustice making the locals sing a bit louder and bellow whenever they felt encouragement was needed.
Sunderland played with ten men for the majority of the match bnut wdere well worth their point
The biggest compliment you could pay to Regis Le Bris’s side is that they worked so hard they made it look like Villa had a man less; none of this should excuse Mandava, though, for reacting to the oldest trick in the book. Cash, miserably, went down like he’d been caught on the chin by Oleksander Uysk.
‘I will be punished because he won’t play,’ said Le Bris, not elaborating on whether the former Atletico Madrid man will be fined. ‘I was really pleased with the reaction after the red card after the goal we conceded. These two moments can totally change the mindset.
‘Togetherness, the belief it was possible to win something – even though we had bad experiences, bad feelings, emotions, we stayed consistent. It’s better to work on positive vibes, you can play well and still not win points. This dynamic is always fragile.’
Still, their resolve was impeccable and Wilson Isidor’s sweeping finish in the 75th minute was nothing that Sunderland didn’t deserve, not least as Omar Alderete had rattled the crossbar earlier with a header, another moment that left Emery apoplectic.
Sunderland now have eight points – it took Southampton, last season’s promoted team from the play-offs, until February to get to that mark – and they can keep moving forward purposely. How Emery must wish he could do the same.
