Copyright mirror
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. The Manchester United loanee featured for 45 minutes against City after entering the fray to replace Emi Buendia, before being withdrawn in the 74th minute. Buendia seemed to sustain a foot problem shortly after providing the assist for the match's solitary goal, which witnessed Matty Cash blast beyond Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 19th minute. During the second period, Sancho came close to netting his maiden strike for the club when he latched onto Boubacar Kamara's delivery, only to be thwarted twice by Donnarumma from a narrow angle. With Villa defending stubbornly in a compact formation, Emery opted to withdraw Sancho for Evann Guessand with 15 minutes left on the clock. When questioned about the substitution, Emery explained: "It was not easy, firstly, after Sancho played 60 minutes against Go Ahead. He is getting fit, but not enough. "I planned as well with him to play him in the second half, but after the injury to Buendia, I decided to get him on the field as best as possible to get minutes and fitness, using his skills and qualities. "His impact was good, but I knew before that it was my plan was to sub him, and I did it before with Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia. "It was not a punishment, it was a plan - he played 45 minutes. The other sub players were ready. Malen, Maatsen and Barkley were all very good." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
