Unai Emery slammed over baffling Marcus Rashford move at Aston Villa: ‘Why?’
Aston Villa have seen their Champions League come to an end against PSG, leading to questions over manager Unai Emery.
The Premier League side went into the second leg of their quarter final tie at Villa Park on Tuesday night (15 April) looking to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg in the French capital last week.
Ultimately they would come up just short in their attempts to do that, with a 3-2 win on the night seeing Aston Villa eliminated by a 5-4 aggregate scoreline.
But having come so close there are now suggestions that one move made by Emery may have cost his side in their quest to complete an incredible comeback.
Unai Emery slammed over Marcus Rashford call
Things had not started well for the hosts, with an error from Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez helping PSG into a 2-0 lead on the night.
However, goals from Youri Tielemans and John McGinn saw the hosts reduce the aggregate deficit to a single goal.
It was at that point that Marcus Rashford produced a stunning assist to set up Ezri Konsa to pull another goal back for Aston Villa, putting them ahead on the night and within one on aggregate.
But as they then pushed to get their all-important fourth goal, Emery elected to substitute Rashford with 15 minutes of normal time remaining, bringing on Ollie Watkins in his place.
| Aston Villa last five games | Result |
| Brighton (A) | Won 3-0 |
| Nottingham Forest (H) | Won 2-1 |
| PSG (A) | Lost 3-1 |
| Southampton (A) | Won 3-0 |
| PSG (H) | Won 3-2 (lost 5-4 on aggregate) |
With his side then unable to find that last goal they needed to take the tie to extra time, Stephen Warnock was left stunned by the decision to take the Man United loanee off.
Speaking about that substitution by Emery on BBC Radio 5 Live, the former Aston Villa defender said: “I don’t know what Unai Emery saw, with the Marcus Rashford was playing he got it wrong.
“Rashford was brilliant. Rashford was involved in everything and everything which was good was coming from him.
“It felt like the tempo dropped when he made that substitution. You need a goal – why are you taking a striker off?”
Aston Villa may regret key substitution
Football Insider Verdict
Before the game there had been some surprise that Rashford has started ahead of Watkins for Aston Villa against PSG.
By the midway point of the second half though it looked as though that decision had been justified, with the Man United loanee proving the driving force behind his side’s fightback.
Rashford was unlucky not to provide another assist for Konsa when the centre-back was unable to connect with his ponpoint free-kick.
With the way Aston Villa were playing, it felt inevitable at that moment they would get the goal they needed to take the tie to extra time at least.
It therefore then seemed strange that Emery decided to upset that rhythm by taking off a key man in Rashford, and it did seem costly as his side appeared to lose momentum.
With that in mind, this could be seen as a reminder that while the Spaniard has undeniably done an incedible job at the club, he is still going to make some mistakes from time to time that may prove costly.