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Unai Emery has revealed why he took Jadon Sancho off during Aston Villa's 1-0 win against Manchester City, after he brought the 25-year-old on earlier in the game as a replacement for the injured Emiliano Buendia. Since arriving at Villa Park on loan from Manchester United, Sancho has found minutes hard to come by, due to a combination of illness and a lack of match fitness. His only Premier League appearance for Villa prior to Sunday came in a 1-1 draw against Sunderland, but he had the opportunity to make an impact after Buendia was forced off with a knock 29 minutes into the match. Sancho put in a solid performance against Man City, managing two shots and a successful dribble against the team where he honed his craft as an academy player. But, with 74 minutes on the clock, Emery elected to bring the England international off for Evann Guessand. Emery Only Planned Limited Cameo for Sancho Seeing his number go up on the sideline, Sancho cut a disappointed figure as he trudged towards the sideline. He barely acknowledged oncoming substitutes Guessand and Ross Barkley, before seemingly trying to avoid Emery, who made a point of trying to speak to his player before he sat down on the bench. Check out Sancho's reaction to the substitution below: But speaking after the match, the Villa boss elaborated on his decision, stating that the plan was always for the ex-Borussia Dortmund man to get limited minutes to build match fitness. He said: "Yes, sure he's not happy, but I did it before with Morgan Rogers, with Emiliano Buendia, with Leon Bailey, and he played 60 minutes on Thursday. "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. "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." Emery added: "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 getting better and better." 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. Victory also means that the club have made it four victories in a row, indicating that they have bounced back from a dismal start to the season. They will be hoping to make it five wins on the spin when they travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on Saturday 1st November.
