England international Jadon Sancho joined Aston Villa on loan from Manchester United at the end of the summer transfer window but has struggled for minutes so far
Aston Villa loanee, Jadon Sancho, was brought on against Manchester City on Sunday, only to be taken off after just 45 minutes.
Since his late summer loan move from Manchester United, Sancho has seen limited game time. Prior to facing City, he had made just one substitute appearance in the league, although he did start in the midweek Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.
The 25-year-old recently returned from illness, with the match in the Netherlands marking his first game back after a period out.
However, his performance against City didn’t seem to impress Villa boss Unai Emery, who opted for fellow summer signing Guessand to help close out the game.
Sancho did have a chance at goal shortly before being substituted. He made a neat break from the left, forcing a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma, and his subsequent attempt was also thwarted by the City goalkeeper.
Villa were leading 1-0 when Sancho came on, thanks to an early goal from Matty Cash.
The score remained the same when the winger was substituted, as Villa sought to disrupt their rivals’ title bid, reports the Mirror.
Asked about the substitution, Emery said: “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.”
A late loss to City towards the end of last season hampered Villa’s Champions League qualification hopes, but Emery knew that a victory on Sunday could inflict a similar setback on Pep Guardiola’s side.
City believed they had salvaged a point in the dying moments when Erling Haaland bundled the ball over the line, but the strike was chalked off for offside in the build-up.
When the six minutes of stoppage time had elapsed, Cash’s first-half effort proved sufficient for a home victory for Villa.
Guardiola’s side remained fourth in the standings when the final whistle sounded, but their standing is precarious.
Villa trail them by just one point, whilst Tottenham had an opportunity to overtake City by defeating Everton in Sunday’s late fixture.
Back in September, Emery outlined his plans for Sancho. “Yes, of course, this is my objective, to get him back to his best – and if he does that, then he’ll come back to the national team,” the Spaniard said.
“Every player wants to be part of the national team. When he was in Borussia Dortmund, he performed fantastic. And he played with the national team 25 matches, more or less.
“Of course, he’s still young. He’s still being hungry to show his capacity to play with his skills, his qualities, and hopefully we can exploit here, again, his best.”
