Aston Villa boss Unai Emery challenged his team to support the first victory of the season with consistency after winning Bologna in the 1-0 Europa League.
Villa scored her first goal this season at home 12 minutes after John McGinn fired in the lower right corner from outside the area. Ollie Watkins was saved by Lukasz Skorupski as she was unable to open an account due to the campaign.
Villa goalkeeper Marco Vitzotto was busy in the second half, so Bologna was piled up under pressure and he overcame the goal and locked out Martin Vitak’s header at rest time to ensure the hosts stuck to all three points. Emery says his side has something to build something on heading into Sunday’s Premier League match against Fulham.
He told TNT Sports: “At home, I always felt strong and confident three years after I arrived, and I always felt here. I created and built a great atmosphere with energy with the players and supporters, and I felt that today.
“Bologna played well and they asked us a lot, but we tried to adapt and dominate. I think we deserve a victory. Today we won. It’s important to be consistent on Sunday.
“Today, this victory will help us stay at work and become positive, but each match coming is a challenge to fight to prepare as best as possible. This year, I am excited, positive and motivated by the Europa League, but I know how difficult it is to win.”
Watkins struggles again as Villa Park gets nervous
Watkins came off the bench in the 58th minute and looked lively, but his target drought was extended to seven games with a penalty miss. But Emery is sure the forward will return to form. He added: “He worked as if he was (confident) today, and this is the first step to regaining confidence.
“Then he had a penalty and he created opportunities too, but most importantly, he regains his confidence and does your job as he does today. Today is the first step and he did great things.”
Defender Ezri Consa has admitted that the Villa Park crowd is “difficult” to deal with “tricky” following the tough start of the season, but he hopes to use Thursday’s victory as a starting point for the season. He said:
“We feel it playing the players (tensions), especially me, behind me. My first season here has been similar, fighting relegation.
“The crowd can be really tricky here. The bosses always talk about how we put them behind our backs, you can see them getting a little frustrated. As players we need to deal with it.
“We’ve been in the game for a long time. You have to try and try it out. I’ll try to stay as positive as possible.
“Today is a necessary victory and we use it as a starting point.”