Watkins ‘shuts a few people up’ – now Villa aim to push on

Unai Emery’s responses were powerful.

Emery turned and pumped his fists toward the Aston Villa crowd, a statue he had cut an hour earlier, and Emery’s goal celebrations contrasted with that raw emotion.

The Cottagers’ desperate run at Villa Park was ended by Raul Jimenez’s third-minute lead.

The Cottagers have won once in their past 22 league outings at Villa as Ollie Watkins ended his quest for a goal and John McGinn and Emi Buendia put an end to that run.

Emery nods to the pressure the head coach places himself under by celebrating McGinn and Buendia’s strikes as though they had won the title.

After Monchi’s exit last week, the former Arsenal manager helped choose Roberto Olabe as Villa’s new president of football operations, but a bad month does not end the years of progress under his leadership. His position at Villa is secure.

Aston Villa has only managed five wins in five league games to start the season and one goal in the Premier League before Fulham’s visit.

Watkins’ leveller lifted another subpar performance, but Villa couldn’t hide the gaps because they couldn’t make a single tackle in the first half.

The afternoon turned into a stroll with two goals from McGinn and Buendia in two second-half minutes.

In match six, the league title was secured. Villa have gone the longest in a Premier League campaign without a win. And it’s their most recent league season since 1969-70, when they were in the second tier and didn’t win until their tenth game.

Three days after winning the Europa League against Bologna, Fulham defeated them, and victory could be a recovery catalyst.

Despite their woes, they are only five points off the top four.

You take the highs and the lows and the criticism on the chin because we’ve been praised a lot over the past few seasons, according to the footballer. We’ve been good enough, captain McGinn told Sky Sports, and it’s been deserved.

However, Bologna [against us] is much more similar to us today and Thursday night. We are aware that our team is still a good one and that opponents don’t enjoy playing against, and we showed that in abundance today.

Fulham provided a lot of assistance for Villa. Josh King was booked for simulation when he fell under Emi Martinez’ challenge, which gave them a second-half penalty that should have been given to the visitors.

It was appropriate to point out Watkins’ role in Villa’s comeback.

When he lifted the ball over Bernd Leno eight minutes before half-time, he ended a 700-minute Premier League scoring drought.

With the spotlight on him getting bigger after his missed penalty against Bologna, it’s unlikely that it was his fifth goal in his previous five league games against Fulham.

He has received a lot of criticism in recent weeks, but he will receive love and support from our team and staff. What he has given us over the past few seasons is nothing short of brilliant,” McGinn told Match of the Day.

He runs a lot, works hard, and then predictably scores when he gets the ball when it doesn’t quite work out for him during this time of the year. Hopefully, that stops a few people from crying.

Watkins had his first goal since scoring against Bournemouth at the end of last season, when Fulham was unable to deal with Lucas Digne’s deep pass.

“I’m hoping he can keep going,” Emery said. It’s a result of his 30-minute performance on Thursday. Play, focus, and be demanding, which he did on Thursday and today, is the most crucial step forward.

The goals should hopefully be [also] coming in the upcoming game.

With 76 goals, Watkins is Villa’s top Premier League scorer, and England women’s top scorer Ellen White believes his most recent strike demonstrated his caliber.

The former Arsenal and Manchester City striker told Match of the Day that Ollie Watkins has scored so many goals for Aston Villa that going nine games without a goal will have affected him.

It seemed as though a lot of weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he scored. Naturally, you consider it and consider it when you are a striker but not scoring, which is a significant factor.

Watkins “was still getting the right positions, he was still getting the shots on target; it was just that clinical edge that was lacking.”

Buendia’s bench impact was a subplot.

After being introduced at the restart, the attacking midfielder set up McGinn, who then scored himself two minutes later.

Since scoring against Wycombe in the Carabao Cup in September last year, it was his first Premier League goal in a year and his first since March 2023.

After spending the second half of last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, Villa were willing to let the 28-year-old leave in the summer.

Buendia wanted to fight for his place after signing from Norwich for a record-setting £38 million deal in 2021 before being sidelined for the entire 2023-2019 season with a serious knee injury.

He opted to stay here and make the commitment to the cause while he did not want to leave, even though he had the option to do so during the transfer window. He “is showing it every day and every game,” Emery remarked.

We used it to obtain his best qualities, commitment, and energy. He helped us, he scored, and he will be significant this year.

After their stuttering debut, Villa may need creativity and goals to stay in.