Unai Emery says Aston Villa deserved to beat Bournemouth after dramatic draw
Posted Sunday, October 27, 2024 by PA
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery thought his side deserved to win after Bournemouth’s Evanilson snatched a late equaliser in a 1-1 home draw.
It is the second time Villa have dropped points in the league immediately after their European exploits.
This time Ross Barkley’s 76th-minute strike looked like it would hand Villa maximum points until Evanilson levelled.
The hosts were denied an opener in the first period after Ollie Watkins thought he kept the ball in play to tee up John McGinn’s curler but VAR intervened to keep it goalless.
After Barkley broke the deadlock, he presented Bournemouth with the chance to equalise after a late foul on Marcus Tavernier, and the substitute’s inswinger glanced off the head of Evanilson to seize a share of the spoils.
Emery thought his side should have walked away from the fixture with all three points.
He said: “We played a fantastic game.
“We deserved to win and dominated possession. In our process here, progressively we are being demanding to win clearly and this is the process.
“If we played the game again the plan would be the same. We created chances in the first half, controlled the game perfectly, very good press, threats in behind in the box.
“The second half we started even better and didn’t concede anything, we score, then after that the match changed because they were playing with new players and at 1-0 they were trying to push into our box.
“We needed the defence concentrating 100 per cent like we usually were but they scored and we are frustrated because we deserved to win, but there is still work to do.
“When you are 1-0 up in the last minute, we didn’t control like we needed and this is one thing we have to learn.”
Villa’s Champions League win over Bayern Munich earlier in the month was followed by a goalless draw against Manchester United and after Tuesday’s 2-0 victory over Bologna, Villa failed to grab all three points in front of their supporters yet again.
Emery insists there is no hangover from European fixtures.
He added: “I think we played fantastic even when we drew against Manchester United.
“We drew the home game after a Champions League game and today we played in the same way. It’s not the consequence of that (Champions League) result.
“Maybe we need some changes. For example Morgan Rogers has played a lot of matches and he was tired. It’s normal.
“Overall, the players and the team played physically well and the mentality we want. We didn’t win but we played for it.”
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola hailed stand-in goalkeeper Mark Travers after he made seven crucial saves.
He said: “He kept us in the game in difficult moments, alongside the centre-backs who were involved in difficult duels.
“I think we’ve gone through these difficult periods together, especially the defensive side of the team with Mark have helped us a lot.
“We defended smart in that difficult period and slowly we have gone level in the game – we finished strong.
“Happy we scored a goal in the last minute and a point in a difficult place and difficult game.”
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