Mason Greenwood in spat with Onana and Mings, De Zerbi feuds with Emery during friendly

Mason Greenwood got in a heated spat with Amadou Onana and Tyrone Mings while Roberto De Zerbi feuds with Unai Emery during the friendly.

Marseille came out of the feisty contest as 3-1 winners over Aston Villa at Stade Velodrome, the game seeing 12 yellow cards and multiple flashpoints, with Greenwood clashing with Villa’s Tyrone Mings and Amadou Onana.

Fans noticed Onana touching his face, with it alleged that Greenwood may have spat at him, prompting speculation of a UEFA investigation.

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett said to astonvillanews.co.uk that spitting is a red-card offence and claimed it could lead to a ban and fine if confirmed.

Despite Greenwood’s goal and assist, the incident has drawn significant attention…

tyrone mings i love you with my whole heart pic.twitter.com/kiBMTWPztx

— catrin (@catrinavfc) August 9, 2025

That friendly was irrelevant and will be quickly forgotten, but watching Mason Greenwood shit himself at the sight of Tyrone Mings will live long in the memory. *chefs kiss* pic.twitter.com/AD7Gs87Zzp

— Jay (@JayVtid) August 9, 2025

Meanwhile, Marseille manager Roberto De Zerbi explained his frustration with Aston Villa’s Unai Emery after a heated pre-season friendly at Stade Vélodrome.

The match, which Marseille won with a late double from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, saw tensions rise, with Emery was visibly upset by Marseille’s rough tackles and antics, leading to a touchline exchange with De Zerbi.

In his post-match press conference, De Zerbi addressed the specific reasons for his irritation with Emery’s complaints.

De Zerbi et Unai Emery. #OMAVFC pic.twitter.com/wXBZ1j80PX

— Varogh (@VarOM7_) August 9, 2025

Comme Sampaoli, Roberto De Zerbi voulait venir détruire l’existence de Emery pic.twitter.com/YthWlU2Ffu

— khal 🔵⚪️🇹🇳 (@khal4ever) August 9, 2025

Storie tese tra De Zerbi e Emery pic.twitter.com/Hv2PHKN9U9

— Zebrone (@MauZebro1897) August 10, 2025

De Zerbi et Emery voulaient refaire cette scène ou quoi ? pic.twitter.com/OhFDFHeuaJ

— 〽 (@CookedByRR) August 9, 2025

De Zerbi spoke on clashing with Emery in his post-match press conference, asked what specifically irritated him, he replied: “The match was heated, but that’s also what people came to see.

“They paid to come, they could have gone to the beach but they came to the Vélodrome.

“With Unai, he complained about my players, and I didn’t like that. It’s up to me to talk to them; the opposing coach must look after his players.”

De Zerbi added, per Birmingham Mail: “What I liked was the stadium, the enthusiasm of the crowd, and the atmosphere. We savored it all. We played a great match against a very strong team, led by one of the best coaches in Europe.

“We could have been more aggressive in the first half, and higher up the pitch without the ball. Which we managed to do in the second half. It was harder for Aston Villa to get past the midfield,” the Italian coach revealed to the media.

“At this level, there are never any friendly matches or training sessions: when you wear the jersey, you have to be 100 per cent. We mustn’t get caught out, because Friday’s match will be completely different.

“The important thing is to maintain the same attitude, not to play superficially and not to think we’re better than we are. We’ll see the result later, but attitude must never be a mistake.”

Villa: Bizot; Cash (Konsa 81′), Bogarde, Mings, Digne (Moreno 81′); Hemmings (Kamara 81′), Onana; Iling Jr (Burrowes 81′), McGinn (c) (Tielemans 81′), Ramsey (Buendía 68′); Malen (Guessand 68′).

Subs not used: Martínez (GK), Proctor (GK); Watkins, Pau, Maatsen, Bailey, Dobbin, Rowe, Patterson, Jimoh-Aloba, Mosquera.

Marseille: Rulli; Murillo, Balerdi (c), Medina; Gomes (Kondogbia 64′), Højbjerg (Nadir 81′), Garcia (Egan-Riley 46′), Rabiot (Vaz 81′); Greenwood (Maupay 89′), Rowe (Bakola 81′), Gouiri (Aubameyang 64′)

Subs not used: de Lange (GK), Vermot (GK); Harit, Cornelius, Lirola.

Twitter users gave their reaction after seeing Mason Greenwood in a spat with Onana and Mings, while De Zerbi feuds with Emery during the not so friendly fixture…

@Simon_Clemson How quickly the smile goes off his face when Mongs grabbed him. 😂

@NegdukeG: Could see the moment Greenwood’s arse went

@Br_NFFC: Up the Mings, has just made thousands of new fans

@VicGrundy: New respect for mings 👌🏻

@craigkiely123: Never thought id like Tyrone Mings

@spencercpfc: Mings just gone up in my estimation

@LCFCshitposting: Never really rated Mings until now actually

@ianyoungkop: Just gained a whole lotta respect for Mings!

@SouthBankMatt: Normally can’t stand him but fair play! 👏👏👏

@FPLJim1: Might put Mings in my team purely for this.

@renny_overton: Maybe Tyrone Mings isn’t too bad after all

@EllisBarton: Always knew I liked Tyrone Mings, quality.

@SteveMallam: Aye, not so tough when it’s someone big enough to push back, is he? Despicable little piece of shit.

@wilts_villafan: This is one of the reasons why we love him so much at the Villa. 😌

@Hadenwoof: You can see what Greenwood is like – he’s never gonna change – fair play to Mings ragdolling him – he didn’t seem to like being in the receiving end young mason

@samuel_z1993: You can tell Mings has wanted to do that for some time