Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa singled out the big change under Unai Emery that was key in our ability to secure a 3-2 win over Luton Town.
A first-half brace from Ollie Watkins put us in control of the encounter at Kenilworth Road, as Villa were cruising through the opening 45 minutes having dominated with a stellar performance.
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However, the hosts scored twice in six minutes to draw level in the 72nd minute, as it looked as though we were in danger of throwing our advantage away and dropping points in a frustrating setback.
A quality delivery from Moussa Diaby though found Lucas Digne at the back post to head home our winning goal in the 89th minute, as we secured three crucial points and maintained our lead over Tottenham in the race for a top-four finish in the Premier League this season.
With his experience and qualities as an elite coach, Emery was seen calling for calm from his players after Luton scored their equaliser, as the Villa boss has instilled a clear mentality and identity in his side when things are seemingly going against us.
Konsa specifically mentioned that in his post-match interview, as he emphasised the importance of the change in Villa’s mentality, which in turn allowed us to stay composed and produce our moment to win the game.
“I feel like, with us, our mentality has really changed,” he told VillaTV. “We didn’t let it faze us. I think when they scored their second goal, you can see the boss on the side trying to calm us down and I’m trying to do the same.
“I think we believe in ourselves as a squad that no matter the result, we can come back.
“And that’s what we did here.
“We showed fight, we showed togetherness and we got the three points in the end.”
It would of course be ideal for Villa to look convincing every week, produce a solid defensive performance and win more comfortably.
That ultimately isn’t realistic though, and so seeing our character and resilience shine through in tough moments to pick up big wins and keep our momentum going will hopefully be rewarded when it comes to the final standings.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen it as we regrouped and saw off Nottingham Forest last weekend too and Fulham the week prior, but it’s certainly still an area for improvement as we look to compete at the top level and achieve our objectives this year.
