Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was unsurprisingly delighted with his side’s display in our superb 3-0 win over Newcastle Utd on Saturday.
Goals from Jacob Ramsey and Ollie Watkins (2) secured a stunning victory over the Magpies, who arrived in great form too and were our biggest test in some weeks as we continue to try and compete for European qualification spots.
READ MORE: Villa player ratings vs Newcastle Utd: Watkins leads superb performance in win
However, our tempo, intensity and composure was excellent from the start, and that ultimately set the tone for what was to come as we fully deserved all three points to extend our incredible run of form.
The performance inspired a top atmosphere at Villa Park too, and Emery was keen to praise the supporters as much as the players for the part they played, and he was delighted with what he saw from his side in what was a really impressive performance and win.
“I’m very proud of our supporters here in Villa Park,” Emery told VillaTV. “In the last four matches here we’ve won, keeping clean sheets and scoring goals, and today was the best match of those four matches.
“Our progress is clear, trying to be comfortable here, trying to be consistent here. We did our game plan: 90 minutes focusing and keeping our good individual performances like we need. It was a really, really fantastic day.
“We are adding different objectives. At the beginning it was about escaping the bottom, which was very difficult but we did it. Now we are trying to be consistent in the top ten, but I think after this victory we can add another realistic objective to try and get a top six position and to play in Europe next year.
“It’s going to be very, very difficult. We have to be ambitious and, of course, realistic but we are facing the next challenge and trying to do it.”
Villa still have to face Brentford, Fulham, Man Utd, Wolves, Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton before the season ends, and so given Wolves are the only side in the bottom half of that group of clubs, there is no denying that we still face a massive challenge ahead.
That said, we’ve been saying that for weeks already as we continue to improve and develop Emery’s philosophy and meet his demands, and we continue to provide answers and solutions to questions posed of us.
Having seen off sides in the bottom half, we’ve also registered wins over Chelsea and Newcastle while continuing to keep clean sheets and scoring plenty of goals.
In turn, while Emery is right to stay humble and hungry, and that’s the message he’ll be sending to his players too, there is no reason why we can’t continue to dream bigger if we stay fully focused on ourselves and continuing this superb run of form we’re on.