Sancho's double substitution was not the only eyebrow-raising decision Emery made on Sunday, with the Spaniard electing to omit Harvey Elliott from his matchday squad. Yet his decisions ultimately paid off, as a win for Villa saw them rise to eighth in the table, just one point behind City.

Aston Villa face Manchester City on Sunday looking to bounce back from their surprise midweek defeat to Go Ahead Eagles and with Unai Emery making his demands very clear to his team on what he wants t

Jadon Sancho was the beneficiary of Emi Buendia’s first-half injury in Aston Villa’s latest game, but also suffered the ignominy of being replaced later in the match. Buendia has been in great form for Aston Villa of late, so it was a disappointing moment for fans to see him go down injured early on at Villa Park.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has been speaking to the media before Thursday's Champions League game against Go Ahead Eagles at De Adelaarshorst (kick-off 17:45 BST). Here are the key lines from his news conference: Defender Lucas Digne has been ruled out of the game because of the injury sustained in the win at Tottenham on Sunday.

Jadon Sancho was taken off by Unai Emery in the second half of Aston Villa's triumph over Manchester City, despite starting the game as a substitute. However, Unai Emery maintains it was always part of his plan as the winger build his fitness up.

At Villa, there was no era-defining manager to try and live up to. Emery could set the standard, and he fell back on his favourite formation: a 4-4-2 with a couple of standout features. The wide men in his midfields are often tens or wide forwards who excel at getting into consistent, goalscoring positions.

Quite how Aston Villa lost this encounter from a position of such authority and on the back of a five-match winning run, in all competitions, will be a concern to Unai Emery. For much of the first half the Spaniard watched his players fail to take advantage of opportunities to put the game beyond opponents who sit 12th in the Dutch top flight.

Aston Villa will aim to extend their fine European form when they travel to the Netherlands to face Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday, with Unai Emery’s side looking to build on