Buendía reflects on ‘amazing’ night

Emi Buendía reflected on a positive night as Aston Villa booked their place in Round Four of the Carabao Cup with victory over Wycombe Wanderers.

Buendía opened the scoring at Adams Park with his looping 55^th-minute header before Jhon Durán doubled the visitors’ advantage courtesy of a late penalty, Richard Kone grabbing an injury-time consolation as Villa triumphed 2-1.

It was a proud night for Buendía as he wore the captain’s armband on what was his first senior start for 16 months following his comeback from injury.

And the Argentinian chose the perfect moment to find the net.

Asked how he felt post-match, Buendía told VillaTV: “Really good, really good.

“To be back playing in the starting XI, to be the captain for the first time for this club and also to help the team with a goal, it’s amazing.

“So, I’m really, really happy.”

It is the first time Villa have reached Round Four since 2020/21, with the draw for the last 16 taking place on Wednesday night.

Unai Emery’s side were pushed all the way in Buckinghamshire by an-form League One Wanderers who had won five of their previous six heading into the encounter.

“It was really hard,” added Buendía.

“We knew it before, to come here, small pitch with the fans and they push a lot for them.

“They were a really strong team fighting for every ball.

“It was our discipline, keeping in our way.

“We knew we needed to fight and keep our plan, so we kept on that and we got the win.”