Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was pleased with how his side applied our game-plan in a 4-1 win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night.
Goals from Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and John McGinn sealed all three points in the Netherlands, as Villa produced a stunning performance on the road in Europe to take charge of Group E.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs AZ Alkmaar: Decisive trio superb in brilliant win
It was such a contrast to our display at Legia Warsaw in our opening fixture, as we showed composure, calmness and an assuredness that’s necessary in Europe to go deep into the competition, particularly against opposition of this quality.
That all started with how Emery set his side up tactically, as although AZ made it difficult for us to play into midfield, we adapted well and showed quality and ruthlessness to take a four-goal lead and ultimately seal the victory.
“It really was very important, this match,” Emery told VillaTV. “There were 1,000 fans here helping us. We played being very competitive in the 90 minutes as well against a good team.
“They are strong in the league, they played in the semi-finals of this competition last year and they have experiences in this competition.
“We needed to be focused in the 90 minutes. When we needed transition, we did. We needed control of the ball to keep possession, we did. And I think we played being responsible and mature, trying to get a good performance collectively.
“And adding some of the players as well and getting from them their best qualities. In the last matches, they didn’t start in the starting XI, like Leon Bailey, Youri Tielemans.
“It was very important trying to get the performance with every player. We have to be consistent, try to continue in our work and be demanding.”
Villa started well in this one as we immediately dictated the tempo and took the crowd out of the equation by slowing things down and playing at our pace, and that in turn set the foundation for our attacking quality to make the difference.
This performance and result will hopefully act as a catalyst for our European run to really get going now, having shown a level of maturity and control that was missing in Warsaw by executing another brilliant Emery game-plan.
AZ visit Villa Park in a fortnight’s time and they’ll be looking to avenge this result, and so although Emery opted to rotate again in this encounter, a standard has now been set and we’ll hopefully be able to replicate that in the remaining three group games to advance as group winners regardless of personnel.
Focus now switches back to the Premier League and Luton Town at home on Sunday though, as we hope to extend our brilliant recent form to show we can compete on multiple fronts despite a busy fixture schedule.