This afternoon we welcome Unai Emery and his Aston Villa squad to St. James’ Park. Villa are enjoying an excellent season in the Premier League and in Europe, and Unai’s teams are consistently well organised and full of quality. We know from previous matches what a tough test this will be, but it’s one we relish.
We approach this match off the back of an excellent night in the UEFA Champions League a few days ago, when we hosted PSV Eindhoven. We knew the importance of the game in the build-up, and we made a really fast start when Yoane Wissa put us ahead after eight minutes, his first European goal for the club.
This gave the players a platform to push on, and we continued to create a series of chances in a very dominant first half. Our reward came on the half hour when Anthony Gordon doubled our lead, which we took into the break. We also know that 2-0 can be a risky scoreline, and it was important to attack the second half with the same momentum, which we did.
We felt a third goal would put the game beyond PSV’s reach and Harvey Barnes provided this midway through the second half. We managed the remainder of the game and had opportunities to score even more. When PSV threw everything into finding a way back into the match, we showed the other side of our game and defended really well as a collective unit.
The players deserve huge credit for how they handled a game which we knew we needed to win as we aim to qualify to the next stage of the competition. Not only the eleven players who started the game, but the five substitutes almost played their part in an excellent team performance against a side who top their domestic league in Holland.
Despite there being big matches in the Champions League and Carabao Cup on the horizon, our sole focus is always on the immediate challenge ahead, and today we return to Premier League action and a really important game as we continue to work hard to climb the table.
The atmosphere on Wednesday evening was really special and it inspired the players from the moment they walked onto the pitch. That is why we love playing at St James Park so much, and it was great to be able to celebrate the victory with everyone at the full-time whistle.
We never take this for granted and will need just as much support today, so please stay with us and in return we will give everything to rewarding your incredible loyalty.
Eddie Howe.
