Aston Villa reverse Chelsea Emery: We must work hard to create a strong momentum

In the 26th round of the 2024/25 Premier League, Aston Villa defeated Chelsea 2-1 after Asensio scored twice after leading. Emery said that the team must work hard to create a strong momentum and fill everyone with positive energy.

Pedro Neto received the pass from his teammate and broke into the penalty area and passed it across the goal, and Enzo took the opportunity to push the ball into the goal, helping Chelsea to open the scoring with a 1-0 lead.

In the 57th minute of the second half, Aston Villa's attack was cleared by Gusto, Rashford received the ball and passed it horizontally, and Asensio immediately fell to the ground and scored the ball into the goal, helping Aston Villa to tie the score 1 to 1. In the 89th minute, Aston Villa took a corner kick, and Asensio received Rashford's pass and scored directly, helping Aston Villa to overtake 2 to 1.

In the end, Aston Villa defeated Chelsea 2-1 at home and successfully returned to the winning track.

Aston Villa manager Emery said, “In the past two games, even before the match against West Ham, we drew, including draws with Ipswich, West Ham and Liverpool, and from the performance point of view, we could have achieved more. We will set higher requirements for ourselves afterwards, hope to improve our performance and really get close to the level of victory.”

"It was a good test against Chelsea. We started very badly, didn't control the game and conceded a goal. We weren't aggressive enough and our game plan didn't work. We didn't press them and let them break through our defense."

Emery continued, “But as the game progressed, we gradually found our feeling and our confidence increased. The energy the fans gave us was great, and the players also played very smartly, trying to dominate the game and prevent the opponent from attacking by controlling the ball for a longer period of time.”

"We were worried that the team might be tired from the midweek game, so we substituted players like Morgan Rogers and Mings who were a little tired or injured, and Lamar Bogarde, Leon Bailey and Andres Garcia who came on as substitutes provided a lot of help. The contributions of Asensio, Rashford and Malen were also very important. This is the way we need to go."

In addition, Aston Villa will travel to Crystal Palace in the next round of the Premier League, and will then participate in the FA Cup round of 16 and the Champions League round of 16.

Emery said: "These three points are very important for the Premier League game, and they are also crucial to the atmosphere at Villa Park. We must work hard to create a strong momentum here and make everyone full of positive energy."

“We have an away game next week before we return here to face Cardiff City and then the Champions League. Hopefully with this win and a great performance from the players we can keep moving forward and improving.”