Premier League: Aston Villa ‘imposed and dominated’ Man City, says head coach Emery

Birmingham, Dec 21 Aston Villa moved to fifth position in the Premier League points table with a 2-1 win over Manchester City. Despite the recent struggles faced by the defending champions, head coach Unai Emery lauded his side’s approach to the game and claimed they were the better side.

"We are trying to be positive, in some matches we may not perform as we want, but today we performed. We are feeling strong, here we played the first half very well, in the second half we kept possession more and got in the box to score the second goal, we imposed and dominated more,” said Emery to TNT Sports.

Manchester City are currently sixth in the league table having drawn three and lost six in 17 games played. The side is nine points behind league leaders Liverpool, having played two games more, but Pep Guardiola expressed ‘incredible trust’ in his players to bounce back from the rough patch.

"Aston Villa are a team that are doing well in the Champions League, and Premier League as well. It is a tough place to come. Last season we won the Premier League, but we came here and lost. We have to think positively and I have incredible trust in the guys. Some of them have incredible pride and desire to do it. We have to find a way, step by step, sooner or later to find a way back,” said Pep Guardiola.

After breaking the deadlock in the 16th minute through Jhon Duran, Villa doubled their lead in the 66th minute when Morgan Rogers found space in the box to slot home a left-footed strike after impressive build-up play.

“We knew it was going to be difficult. They have not had results, but we knew they were going to come firing. We knew we needed a reaction in the same way as they did. To a man, I thought we were outstanding and I think we deserved the win. I try to thrive in big games and I want to show what I am about - it is nice to perform in the big games,” said Morgan Rogers.