‘Fighter’ - Unai Emery hails Ollie Watkins after crucial Aston Villa victory
Unai Emery praised “fighter” Ollie Watkins after the striker responded to his England snub with a goal to help Aston Villa secure a crucial win.
Watkins netted the decisive goal as Villa beat West Ham United 2-0 to end their losing streak in the Premier League and head into the international break with a five-point advantage over Liverpool.
The 30-year-old admitted his absence from the England national football team squad for the upcoming friendlies was “expected” after his recent form.
Boss Emery hailed his response, saying: “He is a fighter. Three years ago, he was not involved in the national team, and he deserved to be there.
“Now he is out. But he must recover his fight, like he did today, always doing his task. When he is doing his task, his numbers are coming, like today.
“He fought with the centre-back, he was getting and winning duels, he was holding up the ball and playing safe passes, and he was getting in the box and a threat in there, and scored as well.
“He did a fantastic job. A fantastic match.”
It was Watkins’ first league goal since late January and significantly boosted Villa’s top-four hopes as other sides around them dropped points.
John McGinn’s stunning strike from a well-worked free-kick put Villa ahead at the break before Watkins pounced to follow up Morgan Rogers’ saved shot and double the lead.
Emery added: “I am delighted with how we played, with how the players responded after the challenge we had.
“In the last month we have been struggling to get points and not playing like we have been during the season.
“We played a fantastic game, a fantastic first-half. We have won, but we deserved more goals in the first-half.
“The challenge today, the responded fantastically. We needed to recover, playing with our style, trying to play passes, with passion, to dominate.
“They did fantastic. The team responded fantastic.”
Youri Tielemans made his return after almost two months out. The Belgian midfielder received a warm welcome back after recovering from an ankle injury.
Despite not featuring since the away match against Newcastle United in late January before the win over West Ham, Tielemans has been selected for the Belgium national team for the international break.
“Very important, he played after nearly two months out. Now he is going with his national team.
“He is coming back and is ready to add his quality and his leadership. He is very important as a quality player.”
