Leon Bailey saluted a “brilliant” afternoon at Villa Park and hailed a collective effort as Aston Villa triumphed 4-0 over Brentford.
Bailey put in a superb individual display against the Bees, opening the scoring within the first two minutes to light up an electric home support.
He then provided the assist for Villa’s second, laying the ball off for Danny Ings, before his superb run down the left channel played a crucial part in the fourth goal for Ollie Watkins.
Jamaica international Bailey deservedly earned the club’s man-of-the-match award but, speaking to VillaTV post-match, he insisted the result was a team effort from everyone concerned.
“I think it was brilliant in terms of how we played as a team, how we were there for each other,” he said.
“As we went back into the dressing room after the game, we saw a clip of the 89th minute where they had a corner, they countered and the whole team was sprinting behind the ball.
“And for us, that shows we’re a good team, we know what we’re about and that’s what we need to win games.
“Hopefully this can be the mentality moving forwards.
“So, it was brilliant, everybody individually and collectively – the staff, the fans, everybody was on their feet doing what they needed to do to support.
“Obviously, this game was very important for us and I’m just really happy we were able to deliver like that.”
Villa found themselves 3-0 ahead inside the opening 14 minutes thanks to Bailey and a brace from Ings, the second of which coming from the penalty spot.
And after Watkins added a fourth in the 59th minute, Villa stood firm to record a hard-fought clean sheet.
It proved to be a third Premier League win of the season and ended a four-match winless streak.
“The first half was amazing, the whole game was amazing, but to be on the front foot that early, it gave the whole team a lot more confidence and that’s what kept us going,” Bailey added.
“As I say, everybody was playing their part, the fans were brilliant again.
“It was weird because the first half we were in front of the Holte End but it was brilliant.”
