Aston Villa manager Dean Smith praised his side’s courage and heart after they moved out of the Premier League relegation zone with a 1-0 win over Arsenal on Tuesday.
Villa were given a boost when Watford were thrashed 4-0 by Manchester City earlier, but still needed to beat Arsenal to take advantage and move above Watford and out of the bottom three by virtue of goal difference.
Egypt winger Trezeguet’s first-half goal proved enough and Villa is to go into the final game of the season away at West Ham United knowing that a victory would keep them up, as long as Watford do not win at Arsenal by a two-goal-larger margin.
Photo: EPA-EFE
It is to be a tortuous Sunday for Smith and his team, but having been in the bottom three since February, they have a golden opportunity to seal a second successive top-flight season.
“It was a great performance, but an even better result. We knew we had to show a lot of courage, heart and work rate — and we did that,” he said. “It’s a big boost, that’s for sure. We knew we had to win to catch Watford up. Now we’ve got the season in our own hands and that’s all you can ask for. Watford can go and win at Arsenal, so we have to make sure we win at West Ham.”
Villa have struggled to hold on to leads this season, dropping 21 points from winning positions, while Arsenal had earned 18 points from losing positions.
As a result, there was real tension in the air at Villa Park, although Villa defended with calm authority to limit Arsenal’s attack.
“We’ve been much better defensively over these eight games [since the restart],” Smith said. “We wanted to be better and the players were engaged with the video sessions we did. It was a real team performance today. We defended the box very well — I don’t remember Pepe Reina making a save.”
TREZEGUET AS SAVIOR
Arsenal’s long-standing weakness at set pieces reared its head again as Villa snatched the lead in the 27th minute.
Trezeguet was left unmarked to blast a fierce strike past Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Trezeguet has been Villa’s savior as the stakes have got higher and his vital goal followed his brace in the victory against Crystal Palace nine days earlier.
The 25-year-old’s seventh goal of the season came from Villa’s first shot on target and he had their second as well with a header that Martinez grasped gratefully.
Villa forward Keinan Davis wasted a golden opportunity to seal the points when he raced onto Jack Grealish’s pass, only to drag his shot wide.
With the tension mounting, Villa rode their luck when Eddie Nketiah’s glancing header hit the post and bounced back into goalkeeper Pepe Reina’s hands.
Additional reporting by AFP
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