Aston Villa battled to a 2-1 win over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Saturday afternoon, and Unai Emery was happy with his side’s performance.
Goals from Amadou Onana and Jhon Duran either side of half-time sealed the three points for Villa, but it was a hard-fought encounter as the hosts carried a threat and caused us problems at times.
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Villa took their opportunity while in the ascendency in the first half and Emery’s changes were critical just prior to our second goal, but we certainly had to dig in and defend well to ensure we came away with a win ahead of the international break, as we lacked our usual level of control.
Naturally, there will be areas in which we must still improve and raise our level as the season goes on, but ultimately it’s a great result for Villa, and Emery was keen to focus on the positives and praise his players after putting in an important shift to secure the victory.
“I’m very happy because after three matches we have six points,” he said, as per BBC Sport. “We lost against Arsenal but competed the way we wanted. To get three points here today is fantastic.
“We competed very well in the first match against West Ham, in the second game against Arsenal and again here today.
“We have some days off now. We want a rest. We need to prepare for the next weeks in the Premier League and the Champions League.
“We have a lot of players going with the national teams now. It’s good, because it tells us the players are progressing. It’s fantastic.”
Although he continued to provide us with an important presence in leading the line, Ollie Watkins was unable to end his goal drought dating back to last season, as he Villa striker failed to convert two good chances in the first half.
Having missed pre-season, it does look pretty obvious that he’s still looking for his peak level of fitness and sharpness, but he’ll know better than anyone that he has to be more clinical in front of goal as the season progresses.
That said, he was still vital in pressing from the front and forcing the Leicester backline into mistakes, while the fact that he’s showing good movement and getting into good areas is pivotal as he’ll eventually start to take his opportunities.
As expected, Emery wasn’t concerned by it, as he is confident that his talisman will eventually get back on the scoresheet and add goals to his important role in the side.
“Ollie didn’t score but I’m happy with him,” he added. “This is the way. He’s playing very well. He’s doing his work but he’s getting his chances. He’s going to score.”
