Unai Emery said he left the pitch before the final whistle in Aston Villa’s 4-4 draw with Manchester United because he believed the match was about to finish after the home side scored in the sixth minute of added time.
The Aston Villa manager was seen walking away while the video assistant referee was reviewing Manchester United’s fourth goal at Old Trafford. The equaliser came in the 96th minute and prompted questions about the Spanish coach’s reaction.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the match, Emery was asked whether the result reflected a lack of experience or the young age of his squad, and whether the game represented a lesson his players would need to learn from.
“I don’t know,” he replied.
Emery was also asked whether Aston Villa’s past record and history at Old Trafford had influenced the outcome. He said the club remained focused on its own progress and could take a positive outlook despite the result.
“We are going our way, and we can be positive even with this defeat,” he said.
The manager was then questioned repeatedly about his decision to leave the pitch before the match had officially ended.
“They scored a goal in the 96th minute!” Emery responded.
He rejected the suggestion that his actions had been driven by emotion. Six minutes of added time had been indicated, and Emery said he had assumed the game was reaching its conclusion when Manchester United scored.
“There was no emotion. They scored in the 96th minute, six minutes were added on, and I thought the match was about to finish,” he said.
Asked whether he considered Manchester United’s goal unfair, Emery denied that was the reason for his departure. Instead, he again pointed to the timing of the goal and the restart that followed it.
“They scored the goal in the 96th minute. You were asking why I left before that, because 96 minutes and 30 seconds was when we started the kick-off,” he said.
Emery ended the exchange with a joke about his command of English.
“My English is very poor, but is that clear or not?” he said.
Aston Villa’s next listed Premier League fixture is against Sunderland on 21 November 2026. Manchester United are listed to face Liverpool in the Premier League on 22 November 2026.
