Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was delighted after seeing his side progress in the FA Cup after a 2-1 win over Tottenham.
Goals from Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers secured our place in the fifth round of the competition, as we produced an excellent display for the most part to deserve our win.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Tottenham: Excellent display to advance in FA Cup
After Ramsey broke the deadlock after just a minute, Villa threatened to run away with it but were wasteful in front of goal as we failed to take several big chances having cut through Tottenham effectively and consistently.
While Rogers doubled our lead in the second half to seemingly make it safe, the visitors halved their deficit late on and made it a nervous finish.
However, whether it was our makeshift backline or the quality we have in attack, both in the starting line-up and bench, Emery was left with plenty of positives to take from this win as he praised a number of players in particular.
“I am very happy,” he told BBC Sport. “It was a fantastic match against a very good team, Tottenham, and we played really well. After a long time, we are in the fifth round of the FA Cup.
“I know how much this competition means for our supporters and us, and I am happy for the fans. We are playing more or less as we planned. We dominated and played with confidence and personality – everything we did today was more or less very good.”
On Jacob Ramsey:Â “He played really well. We are happy when the player is scoring. He had more chances. Of course, we need his best performances from Ramsey. He is getting better and being consistent without injuries. We will need players who are physically good for the rest of the season.
“There are players coming back in the coming weeks. We also have players like Donyell Malen, Andres Garcia, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford and hopefully, we can build the team in the structure we want to create.”
On Morgan Rogers: “Morgan is performing fantastic. His commitment to do his task every day from the first minute to 90 is great. We did a lot of positive things today.
“It will be very demanding for us in this competition, so we will need to improve and increase our level. We are with the motivation to get something in this competition as well as the Premier League and Champions League. We still have a lot of work to do.”
On Rashford’s debut:Â “We have to protect every player and try to adapt them into our structure and use their skills. Asensio, Rashford and Malen are versatile players in the attacking third. We can feel confident to have them.
“We are very demanding in our way because we want to be in the top six or top five in the Premier League as well as in the Champions League, where we are in the last 16.”
Villa’s attacking unit was a threat all game as Ramsey showcased his importance and influence in the side, albeit he will be disappointed he could only register one goal, while Rogers was a menace throughout.
However, we really started to have fun in the latter stages with Marcus Rashford adding pace and intent while Marco Asensio brought technical class and flair to our play in the final third.
We’ll have the options to cause any defence problems moving forward, but Emery will have to establish a balance to ensure that our attacking players have the solid foundation on which we can build and win games week in and week out.
Focus will now switch to Ipswich Town in the Premier League next weekend, but this has the potential of being a real tone and standard setter for us after such a positive performance and win.
