Unai Emery saw his Villarreal team concede a goal against ten-man Arsenal in their 2-1 win over the Gunners last night.
Arsenal and the Spanish side faced off against each other in the Europa League semi-final first leg.
It was a tense game that saw both sides receive red cards and the second leg is now one to look forward to because of Arsenal’s away goal.
The Gunners started the game slowly which enabled the hosts to race to a 2-0 lead, but they eventually pulled a goal back after Nicolas Pepe converted a penalty.
It was a game that Villarreal should have killed off but for a fine save from Bernd Leno.
However, Unai Emery’s substitution on the night was also too cautious and Standard Sports’ Simon Collings believes his subs spoilt their moment and gave Arsenal a way back into the game.
He says if Emery hadn’t been “toothless”, his team would have killed off the Gunners in this first leg.
He writes: “The Gunners, however, could so easily have been staring down the barrel had Villarreal taken the chance to kill the tie. Mikel Arteta has moaned about his side not being ruthless this season, but Unai Emery was toothless here.
“He hauled off his striker Paco Alcacer at half-time for Francis Coquelin, deciding the 2-0 lead he had was enough.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it feels like a mistake as Arsenal were there for the taking. Samuel Chukwueze had Granit Xhaka, who struggled filling in at left-back, on the ropes and helped set up Trigueros for the hosts’ first goal.”