Aston Villa boss Unai Emery. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images) | AFP via Getty Images
Liverpool bounced back to winning ways as they earned a 2-0 victory over Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Unai Emery felt that Aston Villa were architects of their own downfall as they fell to defeat against Liverpool.
The Reds finally ended a four-match losing run in the Premier League with a 2-0 win over Villa at Anfield. Pressure was on the English champions and head coach Arne Slot to deliver following four successive top-flight losses. But Liverpool almost found themselves behind in the early stages as Morgan Rogers struck the post while Matty Cash had a shot tipped onto the woodwork by Reds goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili.
Emery felt his side were ‘dominating’ and were ‘feeling comfortable’ but allowed Liverpool a way into the encounter. Slot’s troops started to gain more ground and after Hugo Ekitike had a goal disallowed for offside, Mo Salah was gifted his 250th goal for the Reds. Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez played a loose pass and Salah capitalised to finish into the unguarded net.
And in the 58th minute, Liverpool doubled their advantage through Ryan Gravenberch’s deflected shot. Villa did have some threatening moments to get back into the game but failed to really test Mamardashvili.
What’s been said
On the game, Villa boss Emery said: “I am happy with how we competed and how we started the match in the first 30 minutes, playing with personality, dominating and getting chances to score.
“We were stopping them and breaking their high press and we were feeling comfortable. In the final 15 minutes [of the first half], we conceded metres on the field and they were pushing more, and we were defending slow.
“Through it, they scored one goal that was offside, and we were defending well. We made a mistake for the first goal when we were finishing the half and it was important to try and keep it 0-0.
“After it, we needed to react in the second half, playing the same way we played the first half. We didn’t start the second half like we started the first half and then we were close to changing something with our energy before they scored the second goal.
“After it, we reacted keeping the same gameplan we had, but it was difficult to come back the result. How we competed and how we were trying to be in the game again, I am happy for it. The result was not good and we are disappointed with it, but not with how we are building our structure and how we are getting players minutes and confidence to help us during the season.”
Continue Reading