Unai Emery has urged Aston Villa to start turning positive performances into wins following the 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
Villa saw victory snatched from their grasp after Ross Barkley’s 76th-minute opener was cancelled out by Evanilson’s header deep into stoppage time.
Emery’s side have gone from strength to strength since his arrival at the club just over two years ago and the disappointment of only getting a draw against the Cherries shows how far the club have come.
Unai on this afternoon's draw 👇 pic.twitter.com/3Gqih9YoSB
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) October 26, 2024
Following three draws from their last four league games, Emery is urging his side to get more out of dominating performances.
Emery said: “We only got one point and of course there are teams who are stronger than us.
“We have to try and understand how we want to get the level we are playing and keep it.
“It is a very demanding way and I am being demanding myself with my decisions in everything and how the players react tactically, emotionally.
“I am a little bit disappointed because there is still work to do, trying to control ourselves in emotional moments is a bit difficult, winning 1-0, opponent pushing, we need to get the balance to be strong in our mind and keep the same focus.
“I am really happy with the team and players and sometimes I know we can have some moments – good match but the result was not what we needed because we need to get better even playing well is not enough. ”
Before last week’s visit of Arsenal, the Cherries were faced with the task of trying to achieve points against two sides competing in the Champions League but have come through the challenge with four points.
Villa dominated the first half which forced Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola into a change of personnel in the 30th minute replacing Julian Aruajo with Adam Smith.
The gaffer's post-match verdict 🗣️
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) October 26, 2024
Iraola admitted his side were far from their best.
He said: “We didn’t play well today, they played better than us and played more the game they wanted to play but we competed well.
“We were not pressing high and leaving spaces in behind and not really covering each other. We were surviving but not comfortable at all.
“After 20 minutes we adjusted a little bit, I made a sub in the first half which is the first time I’ve done in my career but I had to assume the responsibility – I blame myself more than Julian.”
