Emery proud of Villa's win at Fulham

Unai Emery was proud of his Aston Villa players after they produced a strong performance to beat Fulham.

Three Premier League points were earned at Craven Cottage on the back of a tremendous team display that was capped by an Ollie Watkins brace.

Fulham threatened to come back into the match after falling two behind, but Villa stayed strong to ensure Rodrigo Muniz’s goal was a mere consolation.

“I’m very happy because the reaction was fantastic after the matches that we played at home with our supporters and lost,” Emery said.

“This week we tried to keep the same mentality we had before and feeling confidence even when losing and trying to focus on the match today in Fulham being responsible in how we were reacting on the pitch.

“We did it. We worked fantastically, competed fantastically and were defensively strong. We conceded one goal and conceded some chances but in 90 minutes we were feeling strong defensively and controlling the game with the ball like we have to do.

“We were clinical but we created chances to score one more goal. In 90 minutes, I’m proud of the players’ work and our way as well.”

Villa were in control of the match in west London for long spells, building attacks from the back and picking their way through the hosts’ defences.

But Fulham showed fight in the second half and Villa were indebted to a superb save from Emi Martinez in injury time to preserve their win.

Emery said: “We showed a very great mentality.

“All the players weren’t complaining, they were focusing on the game plan. We reacted after their goal, keeping the same mentality, keeping the same game plan we prepared before the game.

“We were close to scoring the third goal but they created one chance and it was a very good save from Emiliano Martinez.

“Today the most important thing was to win how we won and how we competed. I think we competed very well.”