Villa pulled back United's lead before two more goals from the hosts took the game away.
“We played good in the first half, but it wasn’t enough because we controlled sometimes like we planned and we were stopping them as well,” Emery said afterwards.
“We were good defensively and we didn’t concede a lot. We had one chance through Ollie Watkins, and it was an equal match in the first half.
“In the second half we were less dominant against the opponent than the first half, they were dominating more and they scored one goal.
“We reacted fantastic, drawing, and it was the key moment to try again in our game plan or to score a second goal with one chance, like we had with Tammy Abraham.
“We conceded some transitions and they scored. They got the advantage in the result with their goal, and after it was more difficult for us.
“We tried but conceded some more transitions and they scored the third goal. We had some chances, but overall it’s a pity how we were competing, performing and how we lost in some moments the control of the game we had.
“Through it, they showed their capacity in transition to get the advantage they did.”