Unai Emery explains why he won't celebrate hitting Aston Villa landmark after Lille win
Unai Emery refused to celebrate becoming the fastest manager to reach 100 wins at Villa - as he immediately threw his focus on the next game.
Thursday’s 1-0 Europa League victory in Lille saw the Spaniard hit his century as Ollie Waktins’ ninth goal of the season saw Villa halt a four-match winless run.
But Emery brushed off the achievement, claiming his attention was now firmly on Sunday’s Premier League trip to Manchester United.
Villa then host Lille next Thursday in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
Emery, told about his feat, replied: "It’s done. Everything I did is done. Now I want to play Sunday in Manchester. I want to play (next) Thursday against Lille.
“I want to continue being demanding in how I can improve the team and myself.”
Watkins ended a seven-match goal drought when he headed Villa in front just past the hour mark in France.
The striker then missed a chance to make it 2-0 and effectively put the tie to bed but it didn’t stop Villa becoming the first English club to win in European competition this week.
Emery revealed how he had used the struggles of their Premier League rivals in the Champions League as motivation.
He said: "The players responded to the message in the dressing room, about the difficulties. We spoke about the difficulties for English teams in Europe yesterday.
"When we needed to feel strong in our structure, medium block or low block, we did it.
“It is 1-0, 90 minutes. The last round, Lille lost 1-0 against Red Star and then came back."
