Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was pleased with his side’s performance, as we secured a 1-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon.
A second-half goal from Ollie Watkins proved to be the winner against the Blues who were reduced to 10 men just before the hour mark, with Villa battling through a difficult start to eventually come out on top.
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It was a crucial win to bounce back after our disappointment in Europe in midweek, and it’s also a fourth win in six Premier League outings so far this season, which in turn moves us up to sixth place in the standings.
While there were of course areas in which Emery identified that we are still working to improve in, the Villa boss was delighted with the victory, and was pleased with what he saw from his side to secure all three points.
“I’m very happy for our supporters and for our reaction,” he told VillaTV. “We have to separate each competition, and in the Premier League we’re trying to be consistent. We were playing against a top seven team, a candidate to be like Newcastle and Liverpool.
“We lost those matches not being competitive and today at Chelsea I was very concerned that we needed to be competitive; we needed to face the match trying to be consistent in 90 minutes.
“We needed to be strong defensively, strong at keeping ball possession and to face them being comfortable and feeling that we could win. Of course, we struggled sometimes and we need the goalkeeper.
“At the end, we did it. We were very competitive in this match and we played being comfortable defensively and with the ball. At the end we won and I’m very happy for everybody.”
It’s a first clean sheet away from home since our win over Chelsea in April, and as Emery pointed to, following heavy defeats on the road to Newcastle Utd, Liverpool and Legia Warsaw, that defensive performance would have arguably been the most pleasing aspect of the win.
Emiliano Martinez was decisive though having made a number of important saves, and so while that reiterates the need for further improvement defensively moving forward, our key players stepped up and delivered when needed.
Villa ultimately need to rediscover that solid foundation on a more consistent basis to get results home and away this season across multiple fronts, and we’ll hopefully take some momentum now into our Carabao Cup tie with Everton in midweek.
Meanwhile, Emery also praised Watkins for his winner, as he lauded his approach and attitude even throughout his goal drought which has seen him score just once in his last 12 Premier League outings. That goal will hopefully now be a huge boost in confidence for the Villa forward to get him going on a run.
“Always we need the goals of our strikers, and I’m very happy with him because he’s always trying to be committed with his teammates,” Emery added. “His behaviour every day is very good and he was practicing a lot and trying to get his best performances from the team.
“Today he scored and we’re very happy for him and for our victory.”