Unai Emery makes classy Goodison Park claim after Aston Villa’s defeat of Everton

Unai Emery knew Aston Villa were in for a tough afternoon playing at a 'difficult' Goodison Park - and hailed his side after they claimed victory.

Villa snapped a run of three successive defeats as they earned a 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.

The Toffees had several chances in the first half but lacked composure in front of goal.

Sean Dyche's side were then duly punished by an Ollie Watkins penalty in the 63rd minute after Idrissa Gana Gueye was adjudged to have fouled John McGinn inside box. Then with nine minutes remaining, Emi Buendia wrapped up the win for Villa to consign Everton back into the Premier League relegation zone.

Emery, whose side are 11th in the Premier League table - lavished praise on Everton, Dyche and Goodison. And the Villa head coach was happy how his troops nullified the Blues' threat from set-pieces.

Emery said: "I respect the coach, I respect Everton as a club, I respect, of course, Goodison Park - here it is difficult. Their threat through set-pieces is amazing and they were creating chances and at set-pieces but we were very focused trying stop them - and we did."

On his message to his Villa player before kick-off, Emery revealed: "Before the match, I was speaking with the players here and they knew it was a tough match. At the same time, I read the last three matches were two wins and one draw.

"I was telling them that this was good how they played previously. It was difficult and tough at times and, in the first half, we were trying to be competitive but we didn’t deserve more in the first half. We kept going and kept ball possession and we were clinical. We stopped them from pressing and pressing. They didn’t get to our box. At the end, it was a very good three points."