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Emery left 'very proud' by Villa after shock win at Arsenal

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was left full of pride by his players after their shock 2-0 win at Arsenal.

Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins struck late to earn Villa a famous win in North London.

Emery later said: "Very proud of the players, how faced them being very competitive. Being also struggling at times but waiting our moment and progressively, we were dominating the match. But of course, beating Arsenal here is very difficult and we needed to play and be focused 100% and being very demanding in everything and more organised defensively, we needed the biggest commitment to do better than we did against Manchester City, that was the sample we used for this match and then, tried to face them playing in this level because this is the level I want to get to with our players and progressively, we are getting better.

"Of course in 90 minutes, we struggled, maybe if they scored one goal the match would be different but we defended very well, we were very competitive in the first half. In the first half, there was more defending and in the second half, we were more competitive with the ball, tried to keep possession and tried to impose our position on the pitch.

"Football is to play with the ball. Without the ball, we tried to get good positioning, we tried to stop the opponent, we tried to win. We tried to play and then tried to play with our skills. Of course, we did everything in those ways I think very well.

"90 minutes is for everything. The first half, we were being consistent, we weren't doing bad defensively. We were trying to dominate with the ball, keep the possesion tight to avoid players. We didn't do very well, but we were tired but we even got one chance with Ollie Watkins hitting the post. In the second half, we were planning the same but we did better than in the first. We were imposing, but we had more chances and hit the post but then we had two very good goals and we didn't concede a lot then and this is the mentality. The mentality is true and every player is responding on the pitch.

"It is 38 matches, today we played number 33. Today, something is more difficult with some things, but we had to always try to learn and try to improve, try to get to our highest level individually and collectively. Today is a very good example, but we now, we need to keep going, move on positively and now, try to avoid circumstances like how last week, against Brentford at home. But this is the Premier League, the most difficult league in the world."

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