“Unai Emery is absolutely an elite coach, A tactical masterclass, Forget about not celebrating against a former club nonsense”- Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer heaps praise on Unai Emery after fantastic Arsenal win

Gary Lineker says Unai Emery delivered a “master class” as Aston Villa beat Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

Emery inspired Villa to a 2-0 win against his former club in the Premier League on Sunday, Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins scoring late goals to dent the Gunners’ title hopes and give Villa’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League a huge boost.

And Lineker delivered his verdict on X after the final whistle, writing: “Unai Emery is absolutely an elite coach. Master class.”

Alan Shearer also praised the Spaniard having watched Emery celebrate wildly on the touchline against Arsenal, his old side. Speaking on Match of the Day, he was delighted to see the Spaniard celebrate with such passion.

“I absolutely love this [Emery celebrating]. Forget about not celebrating against a former club nonsense. It was a tactical masterclass. He’s done the double over his old club. What a job he is doing, what a season.”

Emery was proud of his players after the victory at the Emirates Stadium, which put them three points above Tottenham in fourth place in the Premier League. “Of course, beating Arsenal here is very difficult and we needed to play and be focused 100 per cent and be very demanding in everything,” he said.

“We needed the biggest commitment to do better than we did against Manchester City (a 4-1 loss). That was the sample we used for this match. This is the level I want to get to with our players and progressively, we are getting better.”