Unai Emery shoves Youri Tielemans as Aston Villa beat Fenerbahce in Europa League | OneFootball

Unai Emery sparked a flashpoint with Youri Tielemans during Aston Villa’s 1-0 win over Fenerbahce, shoving the midfielder after substituting him as his side sealed a last 16 place with a game to spare in Türkiye.

According to Goal.com, the confrontation unfolded while Villa were closing out the game in Istanbul.

Jadon Sancho’s first-half strike, on loan from Manchester United, proved decisive as Villa held firm.

With a minimum of seven minutes added, Emery withdrew Tielemans for 18-year-old academy graduate George Hemmings. As Tielemans jogged off, he exchanged words with his manager, who then pushed him towards the dugout.

Martin Keown called the touchline scene very strange. Joleon Lescott said he did not like it and noted that if a player snubbed a manager there would be uproar. Fara Williams suggested Emery might have wanted Tielemans to walk off to use up time.

Emery played down the incident afterwards, saying of Tielemans, “He's like my son”.

He added that he was very happy with the win, stressed Villa are respecting the competition and gathering points, and spoke of balancing circumstances. He said the coming week would complete the squad structure before focusing on Sunday and then Thursday against Salzburg, with attention turning after the January window to the Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup.

Villa sit second in the Europa League standings behind Lyon on goal difference, with six wins and one defeat from seven matches.

Source: Goal.com