Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was pleased with his side’s resilience after our 1-0 win over Wolves in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon.
Boubacar Kamara’s brilliant second-half strike secured all three points as we made it 11 wins in our last 13 games across all competitions, while Emiliano Martinez was decisive at the other end with a string of superb saves.
It was far from a vintage performance from Villa, but we continue to find ways to win and to recover from our poor start to the campaign, and Emery was particularly happy with the reaction in the second half from his players in dealing with the difficulties that we faced as Wolves created problems for us in the opening 45 minutes in particular.
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While much has been made of the fact that we’re struggling to create clear-cut openings and threaten inside the box, our striking from distance is clearly something that is being worked hard on during training sessions at Bodymoor Heath, and it’s paying off as we saw Kamara produce the latest stunning effort.
Naturally though, Emery remained balanced in his assessment as he heeded caution in terms of staying humble and focused on the task in hand, and that now switches to Brighton in midweek as we face a gruelling fixture schedule over the festive period.
“Great job,” he said, as per BBC Sport. “Each match is difficult. They were feeling uncomfortable and we needed to be passionate and respect them in the moment. We needed to be passionate and keep being consistent. Sometimes we didn’t win. We are in the dressing room speaking about it. We continued dominating in the manner we did. We fared better in the second half and we had some better chances than in the first half.
“We are trying to set the standards high and our level high in our consistency. We grew up here in three years. This moment we had today is an experience. We believe in the difficult moment and believe in getting our consistency. We must understand that each match is to try and get our best.
On the goal: “They are practising a lot every training session and shooting like that. The players are following every moment tactically the way we need. The first 20 minutes they are defending so lowso we need to shoot and be clinical. We are responding as a team tactically.
“The table is, of course, now better how we can see it. We are going to be humble and realistic. We will focus on each match. We have Brighton away on Wednesday.”
Emery re-emphasised the importance of our resilience and showing our ability to win in different circumstances, and while he would undoubtedly prefer to see a more convincing display, he was happy with what he saw from his players in a tough assignment.
This win continues our excellent form at Villa Park too as it’s undoubtedly a tough place for opposing sides to come and get a result, and while there is still so much of the season remaining, Villa will look to keep building momentum and confidence in the coming weeks and really establish ourselves as a contender in that top six race, and potentially even higher.
“We had to follow the gameplan and be resilient,” he later added. “We didn’t dominate the match and in some moments we were struggling to create or dominate. We respect them a lot and know how difficult it is to get points.
“We were better at being resilient, consistent and demanding was better in the second half.”
Working on shooting outside the box?: “They practice a lot in training and then you must show it in the matches. The goal was fantastic. They were defending low but we were pushing and doing more passes before shooting.
“They had two or three chances but Emi Martinez made good saves. We did a great job.”
On strong home form: “We feel comfortable and strong here. The fans transmit positive energy and want us to be together – it helps us to connect with the supporters. It’s like our fortress.”