Aston Villa secured a 6-1 win over Brighton on Saturday, as we delivered an emphatic performance and result to extend our impressive start to the Premier League season.
Although there have been disappointments and setbacks with defeats at Newcastle Utd and Liverpool, Villa have now won five of our opening seven league games to leave us in fifth place in the standings.
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While it’s hoped that we can transfer that form into Europe next week, losses in the Europa Conference League and Carabao Cup have resulted in an indifferent start to the campaign overall.
Nevertheless, the win over Brighton was a brilliant, yet crucial, result for us, and it’s hoped that we now build on it and put together a strong run of form across all competitions to show better consistency.
Perfect response after midweek disappointment
The level of our performance against Everton on Wednesday was hugely disappointing, as it was nowhere near what we’re capable of producing and it cost us with an early exit from a competition that we could have targeted for silverware this year.
Off the back of that, the visit of Brighton was a daunting prospect considering their quality and start to the season, but Villa produced a sensational response.
There was intensity, urgency and quality in our performance as we were more direct and ruthless in our approach. It was everything that was missing in midweek, and so the reaction was superb.
Emery gets his tactical set-up spot on
From our ability to cut through Brighton at will and get in behind them to our defensive performance to effectively nullify their attacking threat for all-but a short period after half-time, it was exceptional coaching from Unai Emery.
John McGinn revealed in his pre-match interview on TNT Sports that a tactical meeting was held at around 8:40am on the day of the game with Emery wanting to go through some things, and it’s clear it paid off.
Villa were excellent in both phases of the game, and the tactical approach put the players in a position for their quality to come through and make it a stunning afternoon at Villa Park.
Watkins back amongst the goals with clinical display
After ending his league goal drought with a winner at Chelsea last weekend, Watkins was ruthless in this one as he bagged his second hat-trick of the season.
From his movement in the final third as he pulled out into channels and found space, to his confident, driving runs forward into the box, he was a constant menace for the Brighton defence.
While he rightly gets plaudits for his defensive work ethic and his contribution to the team in and out of possession, Watkins wants to be scoring goals regularly, and this was a promising sign that he’s set to go on a run now.
Major Ramsey boost with return to goalscoring form
It feels slightly harsh to single out Jacob Ramsey for praise given he was a second-half substitute, while so many in the starting line-up impressed.
Credit goes to every single player as Emiliano Martinez and the defence were critical in the win with their quality on and off the ball, while our midfield was again able to dictate the tempo and control the game and Moussa Diaby was electric alongside Watkins to add quality up top.
However, it was so good to see Ramsey get back on the scoresheet to make a decisive impact. The 22-year-old is so important to how Emery wants to play with what he adds on the left flank, and hopefully he’s now put his injuries behind him and has set the tone for what’s to come.
Fortress Villa Park becoming a real factor
That’s now 10 consecutive Premier League home wins for Villa, and while I’ve heard the word fortress used many, many times over the course of that run in recent times, it’s actually starting to feel that way.
Everything about Wednesday night was flat and lacklustre, and for various reasons, the atmosphere suffered as a result and it perhaps played a part in our downfall against Everton.
However, it was a completely different story just three days later, as while the players importantly gave the Villa fans something to get behind early on with three goals in 12 sensational first-half minutes, the stadium was bouncing and it really does feel as though we can make life horribly difficult for any side that visits us if we play to our level and the crowd is behind the team.