Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has tempered expectations after his side's win over Manchester City, saying they are "progressing but still under our own expectations." 

Emery's side sealed a 2-1 victory at Villa Park on Saturday, with Nicolas Jackson netting in either half.

For both of his goals, Jackson was helped by some calamitous defending from City, with John McGinn teeing the Senegalese up to punish Marc Guehi's error for his opener inside six minutes. 

Erling Haaland levelled the scores briefly at the start of the second half, but Villa duly made the most of another City error, with Jackson hitting a shot straight at Gianluigi Donnarumma that the Italian somehow let slip through his grasp.

"We are progressing but we are under our expectations from the beginning of the season because we started so poorly," Emery told BBC Match of the Day. 

"Now we are progressing, improving. We analysed the match against Arsenal at home. We competed well but it wasn’t enough. We analysed the match against Forest at home. We lost and our performance was so, so bad. We improved so many things against Brentford at home. We were better but it was not enough.  

"Today, with everything we worked on to try to set our standards high, it was a step forward. In the league, we are progressing but still under expectation."

the more things change, the more they stay the same 

— Aston Villa (@AstonVilla) October 24, 2026

Indeed, Villa are the first side to win three consecutive Premier League games against City since Liverpool's fourth straight win over them in December 2016. 

And since Emery took charge of the club in November 2022, the Villans have won five of their eight league meetings with Man City (L3) – at least two more victories than any other side has managed against them in that period. 

"We planned this match, trying to keep the same consistency and demands," Emery continued. "This is the level we want to achieve and keep. High demands. Today was a really good test.  

"I was so excited about this test, how we were facing them. After the match, progressively, it's about getting better.  

"Eventually, the players will have a good impact when we need them. Today is one step forward. That is our clear, clear understanding.”