Unai Emery salutes Aston Villa defender
Unai Emery saluted Alex Moreno after the Villa defender marked his return to action with the winner in Thursday’s Europa Conference League tie with Legia Warsaw.
The 59th minute strike was the Spaniard’s first goal for the club and came in his first appearance after more than six months out with a hamstring injury.
Moussa Diaby had earlier put Villa in front before Legia hit back to equalise through Ernest Muci.
The 2-1 win, in a match marred by violent clashes before the match between Legia supporters and police which saw three officers injured, moved Villa to the top of Group E, though they still need a point from their final match at Zrinjski Mostar to secure top spot.
"I’m really happy because we started this competition losing to Legia Warsaw there," said Emery. "We reacted very well and we thought about tonight to prepare for the match trying to show as well how we improve during that match playing tonight.
"We are progressing, we are feeling good, feeling good with our supporters in Villa Park. We wanted to finish first in the group, it's not complete at the moment, but we are close to it. We want to finish these matches in the group against Zrinjski.
"Tonight I am very happy as well for some players like Jhon Duran, who took 90 minutes, Alex Moreno, who came back and is feeling good, Jacob Ramsey as well getting minutes. As a team we are building and learning things.”
The match was played with away end empty after police eventually decided to bar any visiting fans from entering the ground, following the clashes which took place before kick-off.
Legia supporters threw flares, bottles, tree branches and other assorted objects as tempers flared outside the stadium an hour before the scheduled 8pm kick-off, in what Villa later described as “planned and systematic acts” of violence.
West Midlands police said three officers were injured, with one suffering burn injuries after being hit by a flare.
Asked if the lack of away supporters had affected his team, Legia boss Kosta Runjaic said: “I don't know the content of all the happenings - I don’t know the details. So that's why it is better I do not speak about it.
"Unfortunately our fans weren't in the stadium - and the atmosphere in general would have been much better if they were.”
