Unai Emery
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has insisted that his side did not deserve to lose to Wolves at Molineux. Villa recently surged up the table with a 10-game unbeaten run to become surprise contenders for a European place, However, Emery’s side have now picked up a point from their last three games after Toti Gomes’ header proved to be the decisive between the two sides on Saturday.
It is a win that sees Wolves reach 40 points – a traditional milestone for Premier League safety – and record their fourth straight home win. However, Emery feels his Villa side were worthy of at least a point, leaving the club with a potentially decisive showdown against Tottenham Hotspur next weekend as both teams compete for a top seven place.
Unai Emery said: “We were playing at a high level and winning a lot of points but the last three matches away we played a bit worse. Today, we deserved more. That is the team I want to see in the first half. The result is disappointing but, overall, we have to be excited and the position we are in, we could not have dreamed of three months ago. We have to play three matches but the next match against Tottenham is our final.”
Wolves successfully managed to blunt Villa’s attack, with the team keen to do their defensive work after a disastrous performance against Brighton last weekend. Emery admitted he had been left “frustrated” by the result but did praise the threat that Wolves posed in attack.
Unai Emery said: “We tried to keep going in our game plan and we did it by controlling the game with positioning and good progress with passes, trying to stop their high pressing. Then it was about getting in the box and taking corners and taking chances. The first half, I think, we played like we were speaking and I told them I like to watch our team playing like that. Then in the second half the rhythm was going down. They were trying to waste time and we didn’t get our best performances trying to play like the first half. It was more difficult. They started the second half getting good chances, it was a good save from Emiliano. We tried to draw and change the match but we didn’t do it.”
