Aston Villa came from down late but battled back to defeat Crystal Palace 3-1 on Saturday, scoring three goals deep into the second half.
Despite dominating the majority of the first half, Villa fell behind to the visitors shortly after the restart after being caught off guard by a swift counter attack, with Emiliano Martinez stumbling at a crucial moment due to some sloppy defense in front of him.
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That seemed to shake Villa as we lost our composure and looked a little ragged for most of the second half, as we struggled to find our rhythm again and impose our style on the game.
However, substitute Jhon Duran scored a stunning goal in the 87th minute to spark the comeback, and a Douglas Luiz penalty and Leon Bailey goal completed the turnaround in added time
It was an enthralling victory as Villa made it nine Premier League home wins in a row, and it was a huge result as we enter a key run of fixtures across all competitions in the next fortnight.
Naturally, there will be aspects of the performance that Unai Emery will not be happy with, but he was unsurprisingly pleased with the outcome having seen his side battle back.
Yes of course today was a difficult match like every one is,” he told BBC MOTD. “We played very well, created chances and didn’t concede a lot in our box. But we didn’t score [in the first half].
“We played a lot [of other matches] like today and were winning in the first 20 or so minutes. We said at half time to keep going and controlling the game like we were doing. They have a very good team and good players and they did that transition and scored the goal. Then it was a difficult moment.
“We were playing more with our hearts than with our minds in the last 20 minutes and sometimes you need that. At the end we deserved to win. We scored three goals so I’m very happy because after their goal it was a difficult moment and we really reacted very well.
“Jhon Duran is young, but he has promise.” We must work with him, giving him opportunities and minutes to gain confidence and experience. Every minute he plays is valuable to him, and he assists us, as evidenced by the goal he scored tonight.
“I always respect VAR decisions, so I was waiting.”
“We want to play every minute here and have fun.” We want to compete, learn, and grow as a team alongside the players. I am overjoyed since today’s three points were earned by every player involved, whether in the starting XI or on the bench.”
It was an intriguing challenge for us because we had to explore and find a method to break through a stubborn Palace defensive line, and after falling behind and being forced to chase the game in the latter moments, it was critical that we found the solution.
Finally, we did just that, and it’s a victory that, ideally, inspires confidence and belief amongst the group while also providing us with experience on how to cope with similar situations in the best way possible.
There will surely be changes required moving ahead to make it more convincing, but returning from the international break with a much-needed win should lay the groundwork for a strong run of results in the coming weeks.
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