Aston Villa boss Unai Emery insisted that his players competed ‘fantastic’ in our goalless draw with Crystal Palace.
Villa showed positive signs in the first half at Selhurst Park, and at the start of the second, as we put ourselves in a position to go on and win what was a hard-fought and balanced contest.
However, we lost our way as the second half played out as the hosts grew into it and became a more consistent threat, and so there is a sense that this is a decent point against a side we’ve struggled against in recent years.
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Emery was delighted with the way in which his side competed though, and his fair reflection of the game will be one that is shared by most Villa fans.
“It was a very fantastic response from the players here away against Crystal Palace,” he told VillaTV.
“We were winning a lot of matches but how we competed today as well was really fantastic. We dominated the first half, had chances to score and didn’t concede a lot.
“In the second half, we started with the same idea and started dominating again. We lost 15-20 minutes when they pushed, creating some chances to score.
“In that moment we were struggling, but we reacted fantastically in the last 20 minutes and created chances, hitting the post through Ollie Watkins, a very good opportunity for Morgan and Emiliano Buendía.
“We competed fantastic. In this match we were closer to winning but we drew, and we must accept it. How we are overall in the table on day 21 is fantastic.
“Now we have the FA Cup against Tottenham, again away, again travelling, but we are accepting it.
“We must rest now, take good food and prepare the match on Saturday.
“Starting this competition, the FA Cup, a competition last year that we played a semi-final. Hopefully we can repeat that.”
It’s hoped that we can enjoy another deep run in the FA Cup and go further than last year, but despite their poor recent form, Spurs away will no doubt be a difficult test for us.
We responded to disappointment well last weekend though having bounced back with a comprehensive win over Nottingham Forest, and hopefully Emery and the players can produce a similarly impressive response after dropping points in midweek.
I thought it was too negative and highlights that we need a quality striker asap
It’s a pity that we couldn’t get the 3 points to go ahead of Man City but lucky that other results went our way so we continue the status Quo