Aston Villa returned home from Bournemouth with all three points after a battling display at the Vitality Stadium to seal a crucial win.
Ollie Watkins was our hero as he found the back of the net just before half-time, and that proved to be the difference between the two sides as he became the club’s all-time top Premier League goalscorer in the process.
READ MORE: What proud Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s pivotal win vs Bournemouth
It’s a vital win for Villa in our ongoing pursuit of a top-five finish, as although we have now secured European football again for next year, we will certainly be aiming for more in the form of a return to the Champions League.
Up next is the visit of Tottenham on Friday night, and with a trip to Manchester United to follow in our final fixture of the campaign, the job is not yet done for Unai Emery and the players.
Crucial win in most difficult assignment, puts pressure on rivals
Whether it proves to be or not, on paper, Bournemouth away looked set to be our most difficult remaining assignment this season. In turn, this is a massive result to boost confidence and belief going into our last two games of the season as we continue to chase Champions League qualification.
Villa have moved into sixth place as a result for the time being, and have piled the pressure on Manchester City, Newcastle United and Chelsea, with the latter two playing each other on Sunday which in turn means at least one more of our rivals is going to drop points.
With goal difference not on our side, every point is going to be crucial, and while we’ve done our job this weekend and put pressure on the other teams involved, we must continue to focus on ourselves in the next few weeks and control what we can through winning two more games.
Wonderful achievement for Watkins
With his 75 league goals in a Villa shirt, Watkins became the club’s all-time top Premier League goalscorer on Saturday evening, surpassing Gabby Agbonlahor’s tally, and thus writing his name into the club’s history books.
He may well have had his detractors along the way, but Watkins has consistently delivered since joining us in 2020, as he’s been a decisive presence in the squad season after season through his goals, but also his all-round game and what he contributes to the team in and out of possession.
It’s hoped that we’ll see him add many more in the future, but for now, he’s come a long way on a personal level and he’s been an instrumental figure in our ongoing progression and development over the past few years. He deserves all the praise and adulation coming his way.
Martinez, Cash decisive in strong defensive display
There’s no doubt that a critical factor in our win was our strong defensive performance, as the win was built on our clean sheet, as we were organised, disciplined and resolute throughout to put ourselves in a position to win.
Collectively, the group deserves credit as every player involved played their part, but both Emiliano Martinez and Matty Cash stood out in particular, with the pair making decisive interventions when it really mattered to preserve our lead.
It was a return to form for Martinez after his recent critics and question marks over his future at the club, while Cash received somewhat of a backlash after his recent plea for supporters to get behind the team. They’ve both answered in the best way possible on the pitch, and they were pivotal in securing this win.
Onana a driving force in midfield
After losing Youri Tielemans to injury this past week, it looked set to leave a glaring void in our midfield given the influence and quality that the Belgian international brings to the team in his role.
While we certainly still missed his presence and others in the squad can’t replicate what he does as effectively, Amadou Onana stepped up this weekend and emerged as a driving force in the heart of our midfield.
Having overcome a slow start to the game, he grew in confidence and stature as he was not only a big physical presence defensively to protect the backline, but he played with positive intent and drove forward in possession to play a key role in both phases to lead us to our win.
One down, two more to go
While there’s a lot to be proud of and we’re delighted with this weekend, Villa’s job is ultimately unfinished.
That’s one more down as our good form continues in a critical period of the season, which in itself is a positive sign in our evolution into a top side competing at the highest level, as those at the top have the ability to go through the gears in the business-end of the campaign.
However, this win will mean nothing if we don’t follow it up against Tottenham and Man Utd, and so when the players reconvene at Bodymoor Heath in the coming days, it’s back to work and full focus on doing our job, while hoping things go our way elsewhere. Having secured European football for a third consecutive year though under Emery’s guidance, it’s the ideal boost going into a crucial few weeks.
