The visit of Manchester United to Villa Park has been a foregone conclusion for a long time. In his first 90 minutes, Unai Emery changed everything.
The Spaniard, taking charge for the first time since replacing Steven Gerrard at the end of last month, guided his new side to their first win at home to the Redbirds in 23 years.
It was their first win against Manchester United at Villa Park since 1995 and the match that prompted Alan Hansen to say that you can't win anything with kids.
The home fans have been waiting for this for a long time and the kids that have grown up have illustrious careers.
It has been a long time since Villa won, but Emery has made a big impact in a short time.
Clinton Morrison said that good times could be coming back for Villa.
You always get the bounce.
The build-up to this match was different.
Despite the weather being miserable, the mood was positive even though Villa was only outside the danger zone.
The appointment of Emery had been well received by most Villa fans, and when he made his way to the sideline before the game, he was greeted with loud applause.
There was an element of new manager bounce as Villa raced into an incredible two- goal lead, but after that there were still 80 minutes to navigate and they did so superbly, with Emery adjusting his tactics to prevent the visitors from getting a foothold on the game.
Morrison gave a huge credit to Emery and the players. "Emery did a good job of getting it spot on." The shape of the Villa was great.
Afterwards, he said he was happy. We have players with energy, with quick skills, and we wanted to be disciplined, and I think being together with our game plan the players did it. Today was a great day.
It is very early into Emery's reign, but the victory moved Villa three points above the danger zone and the talk from some of the fans was not of avoiding the drop.
One supporter said "we could get into Europe" while another said "Bring on Thursday" when Villa play Manchester United again.
Thursday's cup game gives United a chance to redeem themselves, with a disappointed ten Hag clearly expecting more from his side.
It was not acceptable for the Dutch to have an off day under Ten Hag.
Sometimes it is the way it is, but it is not acceptable according to him. We have to be prepared for every game.
One of the big talking points before the game was Ten Hag's decision to give the captaincy less than three weeks after the forward walked out of Old United.
After being dropped from the squad, the Portugal international has gradually been reintegrated, and on Sunday he took the captain's role for the first time.
The whole team was off the boil, and Ten Hag wouldn't be drawn into assessing how the 37 year old superstar did in any significant detail.
He was critical of the constant attempts to findRonaldo with crosses, something he said was not part of the game plan.
Ten Hag thought it was stupid to do that. Some crosses were delivered for a long time. The crosses need to be brought in the right moment.
He said it was a poor performance.
Ten Hag will be hoping for a return to form by Manchester United when they face off against Villa.
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