By Aston Villa FC

Unai Emery was a happy man after Aston Villa showed their quality to overcome Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The head coach prowled the sidelines as his side fought their way to a 2-0 win that propelled them into the Premier League’s top ten.

A goal in each half, from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn, sent Emery and the travelling fans home happy.

Unai Emery v Chelsea.

“I’m very happy for us and for our supporters because they have been supporting us and sharing our commitment on the pitch,” he said.

“They are coming with us, travelling from Birmingham and enjoying it with us when we are winning. When we are not winning, they are here, too, supporting us.”

Emery added: “We’re happy. We did well to escape the bottom and now we have another challenge, another objective, in front of us.

“The key today, with 38 points against Chelsea, was to show how we can compete against Chelsea because they are a really good team with good players.”

The relentless demand for improvement has been a hallmark of Emery’s tenure so far, and only two sides have won more games than Villa (9) since he arrived in October.   

Chelsea v Aston Villa

After seeing off Chelsea, the Spaniard’s sights quickly turned to repeating the trick against Leicester City on Tuesday.

He said: “We are not stopping. We are going to be very demanding to try and get three points, and to do better on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a very good game. Leicester are at the bottom now but they’re playing at home.

“We have to rest and prepare well. We have a new objective now for our last matches in the Premier League and it’s in our hands now.”