Unai Emery was enthused by Aston Villa’s performance as the club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in ten years.
The manager watched his charges dominate against Tottenham Hotspur at Villa Park, with the final 2-1 scoreline failing to do justice to their display after Mathys Tel pulled one back in stoppage time.
Emery says the performance in the fourth round win sets the standard for the rest of the season as Villa compete on three fronts.
“I’m very happy for our supporters because this competition means a lot to them, to Aston Villa,” he said.
“We were here two years ago and we didn’t get to the fifth round like we did today. How we got it was fantastic because I think we played a very, very good match. We performed, collectively and individually, very good.
“The players we added in the last month have started helping us a lot and we’re very motivated and excited to watch again how we can recover our capacity, our performances in the next weeks and months playing in different competitions – FA Cup, Champions League and Premier League.
“After the result, which is most important for us, it’s how we played and how we got our performance, collectively and individually, that I am happy with. I’m very demanding about how we can get better for the next matches in Premier League, the next matches in Champions League and the next matches in FA Cup.”
Emery handed a home debut to Andrés García and a first start to Donyell Malen, with the pair contributing to a quick start that saw Jacob Ramsey open the scoring with less than a minute on the clock.
Morgan Rogers doubled the advantage in the second half and Villa were rarely troubled by their opponents, with debutants Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford helping to see out the victory.
“Every player and the supporters here really created a great atmosphere today,” Emery said.
“We started very good, scoring one goal in the first minute and then we were creating chances. We didn’t concede a lot to them.
“We were playing with some players like Andrés García, like Lamare Bogarde after Ezri Konsa got injured. He played very well. Donyell Malen played very well.
“How we were playing the last 30 minutes with Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford was really good because we have to create again and build our team, progressing our structure as soon as possible, getting the performances like we did today.”