An “imposing” Aston Villa star is praised by Unai Emery, who rejects the “struggling” claim

Aston Villa achieved an impressive 3-1 win over Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon, with three of Unai Emery’s stars earning praise from Cherries manager, Andoni Iraola.

Aston Villa capped off a great week with a comeback win over Bournemouth at Villa Park, seeing Unai Emery’s side take a leap in the right direction in the top-four race.

Things didn’t go well for the home team at the start. Matty Cash fouled Milos Kerkez in the box, and Dominic Solanke scored from the penalty spot to put the Cherries ahead.

As they did against Lille on Thursday, Villa were able to get back into the game thanks to goals from Morgan Rogers, Moussa Diaby, and Leon Bailey, who made it 3-1.

The three players were praised for their goals, which turned the game around. However, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola pointed out three Villa players who gave his team trouble.

During Aston Villa’s win over Bournemouth, Andoni Iraola praised three players.
Iraola told the media after the game that Bailey, Diaby, and Ollie Watkins did a great job, but that his team had a hard time “dealing with” the chances Villa’s players were making.

Talking to BBC Match of the Day, the Spaniard said:

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“We couldn’t find this level in the second half. They have top players in really good form – Ollie Watkins, Leon Bailey, Moussa Diaby.

“We were taking a chance by leaving bigger gaps, but we couldn’t handle the situation.”

It was an impressive performance from Villa’s attack, who created a host of chances during the contest in order to turn the game around.

Aston Villa’s front line was effective against Bournemouth

Although Watkins didn’t score, the Englishman was in fine form against the Cherries, getting two assists to take his tally for the Premier League season to 12.

The same can be said for Diaby, who despite scoring, was Villa’s top creative source, recording three key passes and creating one big chance, via Sofascore.

It was an attacking performance that saw the quality of Emery’s forwards take control of the fixture, with Bournemouth failing to deal with the playmaking strengths of the front four of Bailey, Diaby, Watkins and Rogers.

Now is the perfect time for Villa’s attack to build their chemistry, with every game having major importance as the race for a fourth-place finish continues as Emery prepares to lead Villa into their final four Premier League games of the season.