Ezri Konsa celebrates successful 'revenge' mission for Aston Villa's history boys
Ezri Konsa revealed Villa were motivated by revenge after beating Arsenal to become history makers.
Saturday’s 1-0 win over the Gunners was Villa’s 15th on the bounce at home in the league, breaking a club record which has stood since 1903 – though defender Konsa later claimed to have been unaware of the achievement until after the final whistle.
Arsenal’s 4-2 win back in February remains the last time Villa were beaten on home turf in the Premier League.
Konsa said: “It’s been a long time since we lost to Arsenal here. Things have changed a lot since then. Our team togetherness, our shape, our style. We’ve changed a lot since then.
“It was a bit of sporting revenge. They came here and gave us four. We wanted to give them something on Saturday. And that’s what we did.”
Captain John McGinn’s seventh minute goal proved enough as Villa completed a remarkable few days by following up last Wednesday’s stunning win over Manchester City to move within two points of the Premier League summit.
Proud boss Unai Emery later described setting a new record for consecutive home wins as a once-in-a-career accomplishment, yet Konsa suggested it had not been discussed pre-match.
“I found out about it after the game. We don’t really look at stuff on social media,” he explained.
“When you say 1903, it sounds crazy. It’s remarkable what we have been able to achieve.
“You’ve got to give big credit to the boss and his coaching staff. What they’ve been able to do in the year that they’ve been here is incredible. We’re all enjoying our football and coming to the training ground and playing in the games.”
Beating last season’s top two in the space of 72 hours has seen Villa tipped as potential title contenders, though Konsa agreed with Emery’s assessment it is too soon to make such a claim.
“After 30 games, we can see where we are,” he said. “We’re just taking it game-by-game, week-by-week.
“We’ve created history but we want to remain humble, keep our feet on the ground and working hard because this game’s all about consistency and having that winning mentality.
“That’s been something we have been trying to implement here and it looks like it’s paying off. Like I said, we’ll continue doing that.”
