Aston Villa boss Unai Emery praised his side’s mentality after we secured a dramatic 3-2 win at Luton Town on Saturday evening.
A brace from Ollie Watkins put us in firm control at half-time, but Villa were poor in the second half and saw the hosts battle back to draw level.
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While it looked as though we’d thrown it away and allowed Tottenham to close the gap to us in the race for fourth spot in the Premier League standings, Lucas Digne’s late goal ensured we secured all three points and continue to build our momentum having picked up a third consecutive Premier League victory.
It’s hoped that it proves to be a pivotal moment in our campaign, and while Emery will no doubt have seen plenty of areas in which we can still improve, he was keen to praise the players for producing when it mattered to get the win.
“We are improving and we are trying to build a team, a structure, a mentality and today the third goal was mentality. We are accepting each moment who we are and trying to build the team with a big commitment,” he told BBC Match of the Day, as per BBC Sport. “This is the spirit. Moussa Diaby crossing and Lucas Digne doing the header. It was fantastic.
“We are aware about how it is going our way and we are still in the same message for everybody. We are going to keep going every day. We can’t think if we are going to be a contender to be in the top five or four.
“Tottenham is pushing as well and Manchester United are playing tomorrow. They show us, and Newcastle as well, they are very good teams and they show us they can recover the position in the table. I don’t want to think they are not being there.
“Now were are going to focus on the Europa Conference League. We are very excited. We play Ajax. A historic club. To play Ajax in Europe [is a privilege]. And then we play Tottenham and for us it is a very good week.”
The Villa boss is certainly right to praise his side for finding a way to win and the ability to produce late moments and build a habit of winning in that manner is a crucial part of our process to being a more competitive and successful side.
However, he’ll no doubt have a lot to show the players in his video analysis sessions in the coming days and will point out what he didn’t like about the second-half performance in particular, which will hopefully correct key issues and improve us moving forward.
As for Watkins, Emery reserved special praise for the Villa striker, who has now been involved in more Premier League goals [26] than any other player so far this season, while he is now having his best goalscoring campaign in the top flight having registered his 16th of the season.
“Brilliant. His commitment is brilliant and the consequence is this when he works hard every day,” he added. “He is always working for the team and then he is working to score and also hold up the ball and fighting with the centre-back.”
It’s hoped he can continue his form this coming week in the more immediate picture, with Villa travelling to face Ajax in the Europa Conference League round of 16 in midweek, before we host Tottenham next Sunday in a crunch clash that could be decisive in our push to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Torres is our obvious key to keeping champions league race in view. without him, we struggle. and have done all season. let’s get Kesley-Heydon and Ireogbbunam in the side from the beginning. they will run their hearts out for us and then put them in for the Spurs game. McGinn back up front. a better and more solid defence. but we need Torres. ourattack is good but a second half defence is what we need.