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Aston Villa ended an outstanding week with a damp squib after their goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday.

On Wednesday night, Unai Emery produced one of the great nights for the football club in the Champions League when Aston Villa beat Bayern Munich.

But they couldn’t re-create that high against a Manchester United side sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table and their manager under serious pressure.

In truth, Villa and Manchester United deserved to finish goalless because it was a pretty cagey game and one of very few chances.

Not many stood out, in terms of strong performances, but it has been a pretty strong week for one player, in particular.

In the summer, Aston Villa re-signed Jaden Philogene Bidace after a productive and colourful spell with Hull City in the Championship.

Then, Emery handed Philogene his first Villa start against Bayern and he was outstanding, before continuing that against Erik ten Hag’s side.

Emery shared that he is ‘very happy’ with the 22-year-old’s progress and what he is bringing to the table, both from an offensive and defensive display.

Leon Bailey is the main winger at Aston Villa, but according to his manager, he is still injured and he isn’t 100%, hence why he was subbed as a sub against Bayern and only played around an hour against Manchester United.

That has opened the door for Philogene to earn more minutes and Emery thinks he is helping ‘increase our level’, as he told Birmingham Mail.

Unai Emery praises Jaden Philogene Bidace’s progress at Aston Villa

“Really good,” responded Emery on Philogene’s performance. “Jaden is really playing in the idea we have defensively and offensively, being competitive and challenging himself with the capacity he has to increase our level. He is doing that. I am very happy.

“He can play on the left and right. Today, we had two players out. Leon Bailey is progressively getting better, but he is not fit completely 100 per cent. He is having some injuries, not getting comfortable to play 90 minutes or feeling fit. Today after 60 minutes, he replaced him with Jaden on the right side.”

Jaden Philogene Bidace proving why Aston Villa re-signed him

The Villa academy product made a big call 12 months ago to leave the club and join Hull City to earn those regular starts.

Emery didn’t want him to go, he would have earned minutes in the Midlands, but he wanted those consistent starts, so made the brave call to leave.

READ MORE: ESPN pundit ‘in love’ with Aston Villa as he backs Unai Emery to achieve one thing this season

Fast forward 12 months later and it has proven to be a masterstroke of a move because Philogene looks as good as ever.

This also proves the squad depth Aston Villa has at their disposal because it’s going to be needed more than ever, especially with the team in the Champions League.

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