Aston Villa battled back after falling behind to secure a 2-1 win over AZ Alkmaar, boosting our hopes of advancing to the knockout stage of the Europa Conference League.
Goals from Diego Carlos and Ollie Watkins turned things around in the second half, as we completed back-to-back wins over AZ to put ourselves in a strong position to advance from Group E.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs AZ Alkmaar: Quartet decisive, key duo stand out in win
Villa currently sit joint top with Legia Warsaw, and although the focus will be on finishing top of the group, we now only need a point to qualify for the knockout stage with the Polish side visiting Villa Park next on November 30.
Focus in the more immediate future though switches back to the Premier League, as we look to bounce back against Fulham on Sunday ahead of the international break.
Villa show great character to turn it around
As we saw again on Sunday at Nottingham Forest, Villa often struggle when falling behind as it allows the opposition to sit back and soak up pressure, closing spaces that we might ordinarily exploit with our attacking quality.
However, it was great to see us able to find breakthroughs to come from behind and win this time round, as it showed great character, patience and belief to continue to probe and look for ways to unlock AZ.
It was particularly refreshing to see us pose an aerial threat from set-pieces consistently in this one, while we showed quality and decisiveness with our second to seal the win, with the type of clinical edge that was missing at the weekend.
Diego Carlos off the mark with first Villa goal
He’s had to wait, but what a sight seeing Carlos wheel away to celebrate his first goal for Villa, and it certainly came at an important time too.
Albeit fortuitous with the decision that resulted in the corner being awarded, it was a top delivery from Leon Bailey and good improvisation from Carlos to find the back of the net and draw us level.
Following his injury nightmare and as he continues to battle for a more prominent role in the Villa defence, it was a great moment to see the Brazilian centre-half celebrate getting off the mark.
Aston Villa goal #️⃣1️⃣ for Diego. 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/AGgQC4rZxo
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) November 9, 2023
Lenglet, Tielemans impress coming into the Villa XI
We’ve not always convinced when making key changes to the starting line-up, and those coming in have often struggled to have the desired impact.
However, both Clement Lenglet and Youri Tielemans were really positive on this occasion, with both playing a crucial role with their technical ability, vision and passing to help us dictate tempo and dominate possession for large periods.
Further, they both put in a shift defensively to show they can slot into the side and help us maintain our structure and way of playing, and so that was undoubtedly much more promising compared to the struggles we’ve seen for some rotated in previously.
Vital experience in our European journey
Just as Unai Emery noted after Sunday’s defeat in Nottingham, the Villa boss insisted that he learns from a win, draw and loss just the same, and this will be a continuous learning curve for all as we look to constantly improve and evolve.
Our defeat at Legia was a disappointment, but the response since has been excellent. Given many in this squad haven’t featured in European club competition before, they are gaining experience and adapting as they go, and there are positive signs emerging.
AZ reached the semi-finals of this competition last season and have quality in their squad. So, to beat them home and away, is a great indication of how well we’ve adapted and continue to improve in Europe.
Quality in depth proves decisive
Given the difficulty of trying to compete on multiple fronts, Villa were always going to need contributions from right across the squad, and it worked well on Thursday night.
As noted above, the likes of Lenglet and Tielemans impressed as they came back into the starting XI, while we were able to bring real quality off the bench with Nicolo Zaniolo, Douglas Luiz and Matty Cash playing key roles in helping us turn things around.
After three consecutive wins in the group, Villa now need just a point to advance, and so that gives Emery a chance to rotate and rest more significantly in the final two games, with others given an opportunity to show that they can come in and do a job when required.