Fixtures
- Aston Villa Vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers – Sat, Sep 21st 2024, 15:00
Unai Emery praised a “fantastic” second-half display from Aston Villa after they came back to beat Wolves at Villa Park.
The Spaniard was less than pleased with what he saw in the first 45 minutes as the hosts trailed 1-0 at the break.
But three goals in the final quarter of the match turned things around to cap a much-improved second half performance.
“It was the worst first half I’ve played with Aston Villa here,” he reflected.
“I didn’t watch one match like the first half we played; it was very, very poor. We lost possession, we weren’t pressing them, we weren’t organised and we were very passive.
“It was strange. Maybe we lost a little bit of the energy we had and we needed the second half to change our spirit, and we did it. We did it using some fresh players to add their qualities.
“In the second half we played following our supporters. Sometimes we have to play organised and thinking but we have to play with our heart, and our heart is to play to win, try to use our energy going forward and we came back the result.
“It was fantastic because we deserved it completely. In the first half, they deserved it more.”
Victory against a local rival made it three wins in seven days as the team continues to move forward on all fronts.
But Emery knows there are areas in which his side must improve as they seek to maintain the consistency that secured them a top four finish last season.
He said: “We are scoring goals, but we have to reduce the chances that the opponent is creating.
“Today they had three very good chances to score. We conceded only goal but we have to try to avoid those situations.
“It’s not defending like we did in the first half – we were very low, very passive, and we have to defend being together, being strong and trying to jump together to reduce their ball possession.
“We had to play connecting with our 8 and 10 to exploit their space but we didn’t do it in the first half. In the second half, with the energy we used with our supporters, it changed the match completely.
“The second half was really fantastic.”
