Aston Villa coach: Our fans gave us energy against City

Aston Villa coach Unai Emery praised his team’s fans after a 1-0 win over Manchester City in the English Premier League (Wednesday).

Aston Villa jumped above City to third place with 32 points, two points ahead of the defending champion, while four points behind leaders Arsenal before hosting them next Saturday.

Emery took over as coach of Aston Villa on October 24 last year, when the team was ranked 16th in the league.

But the team finished the season in seventh place to qualify for the Europa League, and with its victory over City, Aston Villa achieved 14 consecutive wins at home in the league.

The Spanish coach, who won 31 of 50 matches with Aston Villa, said during a press conference: “I hope that we will have more matches like tonight, and that we will succeed in the challenges in the league and Europe.”

He added: “The fans created a wonderful atmosphere that we enjoyed and gave us energy. “The atmosphere was amazing.”

The 52-year-old coach will be excited to face his former team, Arsenal (Saturday).

He said: “We look at the standings and feel happy that we are in third place, but we are not contenders for the title. Over the course of 38 matches, you must face the challenges with consistency in level.”

He added: “We will face another amazing challenge on Saturday with our fans at Villa Park against Arsenal. We have to enjoy it and prepare for the match as professionals.”