While some regarded it as two points dropped on Sunday, Emery offered perspective with Villa well placed inside the top four.
“We are playing for excellence,” he said.
“We were excellent in December. We were two or three points behind Arsenal and behind Manchester City. And how we were one month ago, was not excellent, like in December, but we were very good.
"And how we are now is the same in our objective, the Europa League quarter-final and in the Premier League’s top five positions. Of course, today the match is something similar. We played a very good match, but the next step forward is to play excellent to win.
“We tried it, and I’m so happy that we were keeping a strong game plan and the players were following it. We tried to win, we played to win, we competed to win.
“Through our game plan, we planned, and we have got a very good match, a very good point, but still the next step forward to achieve is excellence. We need three points, like the match we played today or in the next matches to be a contender to be in the top five.
“Our next match on Sunday, Sunderland, is the next challenge in the Premier League. And of course, the Europa League is something we must feel comfortable, happy, proud of everything we are doing. And Villa Park on Thursday, I want, like today, the supporters who came here to be with us – I don't know how many but I think there were 3,000 or 4,000, like in Bologna.
“It's fantastic. Why? Because we can feel them here with us, and we can feel confident, motivated and excited, trying to enjoy the momentum.”