Aston Villa eventually saw off Burnley in a 3-2 win at Villa Park on Saturday, and Unai Emery has provided his thoughts on the dramatic victory.
Goals from Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby and a late Douglas Luiz penalty secured the three points, but it came in a less than convincing performance from Villa.
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Burnley were reduced to ten men for much of the second half but threatened to take a share of the spoils until the death, and so there is undoubtedly plenty for Villa to work on still moving forward.
Nevertheless, we may well end the year joint-top of the Premier League table and with a healthy gap over the chasing pack, and this was a pivotal result to bounce back from recent disappointment and get back on track.
As always, Emery was a voice of reason and class as he assessed the game, and he will no doubt be delighted with how his side have performed through the opening 20 games of the campaign.
“After the last two matches, playing very well here against Sheffield but not taking the three points and then after the good first half in Manchester where we lost in the end, today it was very important to win,” he told VillaTV. “We played well, we controlled the game. It was difficult but we controlled the game. They were playing with one less player on the pitch after the red card, but we played well and reacted very well.
“We conceded two goals and one or two chances more so easily. We have to try to focus on correcting it. At the end, we won and we are very, very happy.
“We are focusing on each match and the hard work we need to do. The players are responding very well.
“Now we are going to enjoy the new year, trying to rest a little bit and focus for the next week against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.
“Today we are happy because it was important after two matches that we didn’t win to react like we did with our supporters here in Villa Park and feel comfortable and strong.
“We played like I want to tactically and individually with good movements from everybody. The supporters helped us to try and get the three points as well.
“We played like I want and I’m happy. I want to share this moment with our supporters.”
It’s an important point that the Villa boss makes in that it was fundamental we bounced back after those two disappointing results, especially with such a significant break now before our next league outing.
Wins certainly help a tiring squad to stay positive as we pick up injuries too, while it’s clear from this game where we still need to improve defensively as Emery evidently wasn’t happy with some of the chances we conceded.
Nevertheless, the result lifts the mood, albeit it was still very high given the bigger picture, and we’ll hopefully be able to kick on in 2024 and make this a successful campaign.