Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was unsurprisingly very happy with his side’s performance in our 6-1 win over Brighton on Saturday.
A hat-trick for Ollie Watkins as well as goals for Jacob Ramsey and Douglas Luiz along with an own goal secured an emphatic win over Roberto De Zerbi’s side, in a hugely impressive performance and response after disappointment in midweek in the Carabao Cup.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Brighton: Watkins sensational in superb win
So much was wrong with that display on Wednesday night and it was perhaps our worst since Emery took charge, and so to produce the reaction that we did against Brighton made it all the more pleasing.
Villa showed intensity, urgency and quality throughout the game, and aside from a spell after half-time where the visitors pulled one back and threatened, we were largely in control and thoroughly deserved all three points.
Emery was keen to express his happiness for the Villa fans after the win, and was delighted with how we performed considering the setback in midweek and the difficulty posed by our opponents.
“I am very happy for our supporters, because after we lost at home on Wednesday, we reacted very well,” he told VillaTV. “We connected with them, we are feeling here very good, strong. We played against a very good team, we can be happy but still being demanding for the next matches. We’re going to analyse but trying to keep the balance ourselves as well.
“When we start like that, the atmosphere is helping us more and more, the supporters are feeling excited, it’s giving us confidence & good feelings to continue in this idea.”
Meanwhile, Emery was asked about Watkins’ performance and was full of praise for the Villa forward, as he insisted that his goals were the reward for his continuous hard work.
Villa fans know just how important the 27-year-old is to our way of playing with his defensive work and high pressing, while his movement in the attacking third stretches defences and creates space for his teammates to expose.
Importantly, he was on the end of those moves consistently in this one, and he showed a ruthlessness and clinical edge in front of goal to bag a hat-trick and lead our charge.
“I really appreciate his work every day, and the goals are the consequence of his work,” Emery added on Watkins. “Every day he’s very demanding to improve, to analyse, and he’s working for the team defensively & offensively, fighting the centre-backs. The goals come because we want to help him, we want to try and get good chances for him, for us it’s very important.”
"The priority is the Premier League, but there's still a lot of work to do!" 💪
Unai Emery reacts to Aston Villa's 6-1 win over Brighton…
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