Aston Villa secured a stunning 2-0 win over Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday, in a huge boost for our hopes of Champions League qualification.
A late double from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins sealed the three points, with the result moving us clear of Tottenham in fourth place in the Premier League table while also adding the bonus of improving our goal difference.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s excellent win vs Arsenal
With a crunch showdown against Lille on Thursday, this was a vital result for Unai Emery and the players after a dip in form domestically in recent weeks, and it will hopefully prove to be the catalyst for us to put together a big push to end the season.
For now though, all concerned can enjoy what was a brilliant win, as we completed a league double over the Gunners and repositioned ourselves to be in a great spot in the battle for a top-four finish.
Unai Emery gets his game-plan spot on
Villa were very brave throughout with our approach, as we tried to avoid playing hopeful long balls to try and spark a transition, and instead showed composure and class in trying to play out from the back.
That was evidently a game-plan and instruction from Emery to his players to adopt that style and approach, and while it was critical in the first half to alleviate pressure and play at our tempo, it was pivotal to helping us eventually control the game in the second half and find a breakthrough to win it.
Just as he has done all season and last year, the Villa boss implemented a game-plan that inspired and influenced the win, and he made history as he’s now led us to 19 Premier League wins this season, the most in a single top-flight campaign in the club’s history.
Another record falls to Unai Emery's Aston Villa. 🫡 pic.twitter.com/wQWCsamTkB
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 14, 2024
Emi MartÃnez produces decisive moment yet again
As he does every week, Emiliano Martinez left his mark on this game too as he produced a defining and decisive save in the first half to keep us in the game at 0-0.
It was perhaps more instinctive than anything on this occasion, but his ability to make a telling contribution every single week is a major reason behind why we’re where we are at this stage.
Coupled with his leadership, experience and winning mentality, his impact doesn’t go unnoticed, and Villa continue to benefit from having the world’s best between the posts.
Diego Carlos imperious in defence
Diego Carlos was an absolute monster at the back for us in this one, and the Brazilian centre-half was deservedly named the Player of the Match as a result.
Aside from his physicality and presence in and around the box, he made timely interventions throughout as he read the danger well and was able to either step in and snuff it out early, or recover to sweep up the threat.
Coupled with his composure in possession, Carlos has enjoyed a significant run in the Villa XI in recent weeks and this performance was his best yet.
Tielemans-McGinn bring back fundamental balance
With Douglas Luiz suspended, Emery opted to pair John McGinn and Youri Tielemans together in the heart of our midfield, and it was a critical decision that helped shape the game.
As noted above, Villa were really impressive even in the first half in terms of the patience and courage we showed to try and control possession, and that was only possible with the technical ability, composure and tenacity from Tielemans and McGinn to give us a foothold in midfield.
That in turn led to our improvement after the break to start to dominate, and while McGinn was excellent throughout in both phases of the game, Tielemans capped off a brilliant individual display with the interception and then assist that led to Watkins bagging our second to ultimately kill the contest off.
Watkins clinical as numbers continue to impress
That’s now 26 goals and 10 assists in 45 appearances so far this season for the Villa frontman, who is second in the race for the Premier League Golden Boot as things stand.
He was so unfortunate in the first half as he saw his effort hit the post and spin agonisingly away from the goal and out for a corner, but he wasn’t to be denied with his next big chance.
While he was tireless with his work ethic off the ball and his movement was crucial to help us control possession and build attacks, his ability and improvement to be more clinical with limited chances is what is firing us into the position we’re in. Long may his superb form continue.
