Unai Emery sends beautiful ‘nights like this’ message to Aston Villa fans
Unai Emery has shared his gratitude with the supporters who travelled to Rotterdam as his team picked up a vital away win in the Europa League on Thursday.
Aston Villa have been enjoying an upturn in results. After six matches without a win to start the season, Villa have now won their last three in the Premier League and Europa League.
They beat Feyenoord 2-0 at De Kuip on Thursday, collecting three more crucial league phase points on the ground where they won the European Cup in 1982.
Villa’s first away win of 2025/26 followed a European win against Bologna and a 3-1 league victory over Fulham at Villa Park last weekend, and helps to assuage a lack of confidence within the team and the fans after a goalless first four games.
Former Arsenal, Sevilla and Villarreal manager Emery was full of praise for Villa’s away support on Thursday night, posting a message to the 2,400 travelling fans on his Instagram account after the match:
“Massive thanks to our incredible fans who travelled to the Netherlands – your support made the difference today! The team fought for every ball. Nights like this, we do it together. Up the Villa!”
Not an easy win
Feyenoord proved very tricky opponents at De Kuip, as Villa had expected. They had to withstand a lot of pressure in the first half as the home team created many more chances than the visitors.
Goalkeeper Marco Bizot stepped up again in the surprise absence of Emiliano Martinez, who was taken out of the starting line-up by a calf problem that occurred in the warm-up. Bizot made three vital saves before half time to maintain Villa’s clean sheet and there were many more to come.
Evann Guessand hit the post early in the second half before Emi Buendía opened the scoring for Villa. John McGinn doubled the lead, taking advantage of a loose ball in the box after Donyell Malen’s powerful solo run took Villa into dangerous territory.
Emery was pleased with the result and with his team’s mentality in Rotterdam, which he sees as an important component in their ability to fulfil their targets in the Europa League.
“I think the second half was really fantastic,” he told the club website.
“But it was very important how we showed our mental capacity in the first half to be resilient, to keep going in our game plan, and not to be panicked when we were conceding some chances or some corners offensively for them.
“And I am so, so happy, because Europe is like that; it’s difficult. You have to be very, very competitive; you have to keep your game plan strong and try to adapt, competing against the opponent and playing away more, and we did it.”
The post Unai Emery sends beautiful ‘nights like this’ message to Aston Villa fans appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.