Aston Villa duo earn special praise after win at Fulham
Unai Emery saluted main men Ollie Watkins and Emi Martinez after they helped inspire another Villa comeback in Saturday's 3-1 win at Fulham.
Watkins headed his fifth goal of the season to put Villa in front at Craven Cottage after Martinez had saved Andreas Pereira’s first half penalty in an incident-packed game.
Former Wolves striker Raul Jimenez had earlier fired the hosts in front with Morgan Rogers netting a swift leveller for Villa.
Joachim Andersen saw red for hauling down England international Watkins shortly after the striker had put his team 2-1 up. An Issa Diop own goal then put the result beyond doubt before Villa substitute Jaden Philogene was dismissed in stoppage time after receiving a second yellow card.
Asked about the importance of Martinez and Watkins, Emery said: “Emi Martinez is the best goalkeeper in the world and it means that we need him in moments like today.
“I was sitting on the bench and I was dreaming his save! He did it!
“Watkins is being consistent working tactically defensively and offensively, creating chances too.
“He had a chance in the first half but the goalkeeper Leno made a fantastic save. Watkins scored a fantastic goal.”
The win was Villa’s fifth of the Premier League season and the third in which they have come from behind to win.
Their haul of 17 points from the first eight matches represents their best start to a Premier League season since 1998.
“Of course, I’m very proud of our mentality,” said Emery. “Today, we needed to play this match competing against Fulham who are in a very good moment.
“It is always difficult to win here. The first thing is to compete and avoid their style and idea, how they are playing.
“We wanted to stop them playing with the ball and stop them offensively because they are strong. We did a fantastic job.
“Even when they scored first, we focused together. The first half we finished playing like we wanted. The second half we managed to keep that momentum.”
Philogene was dismissed for a second booking when he appeared to make little contact with Reiss Nelson.
But Emery refused to be drawn into a debate about the referee’s performance.
He said: “I never speak about the decisions from the referees. Red card for both sides, OK.
“VAR is for this reason, to help the referees. If VAR accepts it’s a penalty, then so do I. The red cards, the same way.”
