Aston Villa boss Unai Emery revealed he never intended for Jadon Sancho to play more than 30 minutes against Manchester City.
Sancho, who started Villa’s 1-0 victory on the bench, was thrust into the contest far earlier than expected when Emi Buendia was forced off with an injury in the first half.
However, the 25-year-old suffered the ignominy of being substituted in the 74th minute as he was replaced by Evann Guessand.
It was a lively 45-minute appearance from Sancho, who finished with two shots on target and five touches inside City’s box, the second-most of any Villa player.
Sancho understandably cut a frustrated figure as he exited the pitch at Villa Park and Emery acknowledged the winger was justified to feel that way.
Unai Emery explains the Jadon Sancho situation
However, Emery reiterated he planned for Sancho to have a small role in Sunday’s fixture given he logged an hour of action during Thursday’s 2-1 Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.
“Yes, sure he’s (Sancho) not happy but I did it before with Morgan Rogers, with Emiliano Buendia, with Leon Bailey, and he played 60 minutes on Thursday,” Emery said.
“Today when he (Buendia) was injured, my plan was maybe in case he (Sancho) was going to play 30 minutes, but I decided to play more and he played 45 minutes.
“But my plan was when he was swapped with Emiliano Buendia, the idea was maybe not playing all the minutes until the last moment.
“And I told him as well, he can feel it, it’s embarrassing.
“Before Morgan, Emiliano Buendia and Leon Bailey, they felt the same when I subbed them, but it was not a punishment. And now it’s not a punishment.
“He played 45 minutes, I am so happy because his impact was good, his electricity, his skill, but then to play more than now he’s not ready fit to play 90 minutes, 45 minutes is not easy enough for him and I am happy and of course, progressively he’s coming better and better.”
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Sancho’s experience as a substitute coming on only to be later taken off – which he had never previously experienced in a Premier League fixture – was not the only talking point when it came to selection matters for Emery as he left Harvey Elliott out of Villa’s matchday squad.
Although Villa have a clause in which they must trigger the £35million purchase option for Elliott should he reach ten appearances for the club, which he is halfway to doing, Emery insisted the 22-year-old’s exclusion was purely a ‘tactical decision.’
However, Elliott and Sancho could be in for more minutes after Buendia was spotted leaving Villa Park on crutches with his right foot in a boot.
The impact of Villa’s win over City
It was the only major blemish on what was a tremendous afternoon for Villa as they extended their unbeaten streak in the league to sixth matches courtesy of Matty Cash.
The Poland international secured the three points for Villa courtesy of a stunning goal from outside the box with his weak foot.
Cash’s strike also made him Villa’s equal-top goalscorer in the league this term alongside Donyell Malen and Buendia, with the trio all bagging two goals.
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The 1-0 win over City marked the fourth-consecutive league win for Emery’s side as they now sit eighth on the table with 15 points.
As for City, the defeat has left them sitting 5th on 16 points.
In further unfortunate news for Pep Guardiola’s troops, the loss to Villa coupled with Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace meant the Gunners sit six points ahead of City in the table after nine games.