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Game #5660

Aston Villa

Tuesday, 4 April 2023

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Won

7th (+2)

Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟩

Premier League

Leicester City

King Power Stadium

Attendance: 32,087

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

Leicester City

1-2

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Aston Villa

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🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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MATCH TIMELINE

Tuesday, 4 April 2023

⚽ | 24’ Goal, 1-0, Ollie Watkins, Assist by Emiliano Buendía
🥅 | 35’ Goal, 1-1, (Leicester City), Harvey Barnes
🕒 | HT Leicester City 1-1 Aston Villa
🟥 | 70’ Sending off, (Leicester City), Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
🔁 | 79’ Sub off, Jacob Ramsey, Sub on, Jhon Durán
🔁 | 85’ Sub off, Ashley Young, Sub on, Calum Chambers
🔁 | 85’ Sub off, Álex Moreno, Sub on, Lucas Digne
🔁 | 85’ Sub off, Leon Bailey, Sub on, Bertrand Traoré
⚽ | 87’ Goal, 2-1, Bertrand Traoré
💥 | 90’+2 Referee Graham Scott awards Leicester a very questionable penalty
💥 | 90’+2 VAR overturns Referee Graham Scott’s decision
🕒 | FT Leicester City 1-2 Aston Villa

Match Statistics

Possession F | 65%
Possession A | 35%
Shots F | 15
Shots A | 9
Shots on Target F | 5
Shots on Target A | 4
Corners F | 8
Corners A | 4
Fouls F | 14
Fouls A | 10

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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ON THIS DAY

Tuesday, 4 April 2023

  • Six unbeaten, five wins, seventh place. Bertrand Traoré returns with a vengeance.

  • Douglas Luiz makes his 125th start in a Villa shirt (142 Appearances) for Villa since joining in July 2019 aged 21 to make it W52 D25 L65, 9 Goals, 13 Assists, 33 Bookings and 2 Red Cards so far in his Villa career. 

  • Ezri Konsa records his 50th win in a Villa shirt on his 129th Appearance (124 Starts) to make it W50 D24 L55, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 18 Bookings and 1 Red Card.

  • Ollie Watkins becomes the first Villa player to score in six successive away games in the Premier League (since 1992-93) having scored eight in his last two games and is only behind Dean Saunders (37) and level with John Carew (36) in scoring the most goals in their first 100 Premier League games for Villa. 

  • 19 year old left back Seb Revan makes his first ever squad appearance for Villa after graduating from the youth team set up.

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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DEBUT APPEARANCES

None

FINAL APPEARANCES

None

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Aston Villa

European Cup / Champions League: 🏆
League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1995-96

Leicester City

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European Cup / Champions League: ❌
League Champions: 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 2020-21

Aston Villa

Leicester City

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FIXTURE HISTORY

Villa v

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Leicester City

Previous 5 vs. Leicester: 🟩 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟥

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

FIXTURE DETAILS

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Season | 2022-23 |
Matchday | #32 |
League Game | #29 |
Manager Game | #18 |
Tuesday, 4 April 2023
Attendance | 32,087 |

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🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

MATCH SUMMARY

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Manager: Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | Hondarribia, 2022-
Referee: Graham Scott | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Oxford, 2008-
Kick off: 7.45pm
Half Time Score: 🟨 1-1
Full Time Result: 🟩 Won
Full Time Score: 🟩 2-1
Last 5: 🟩 🟨 🟩 🟩 🟩

Scorers
Timeline
On This Day
Trophies
Matches
Fixture

MANAGERIAL RECORD

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Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

GAMES | WINS | DRAWS | LOSSES | POINTS PER GAME

🕒 18 | 🟩 | 10 🟨 | 2 🟥 6 | 1.78

Villa Career Form:

Top 6

ALL THE MATCHES LED BY:

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Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

MATCH OFFICIALS

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Referee: Graham Scott | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Oxford, 2008- 🆘
Matches Officiated: 10
🟩 : 4
🟨 : 2
🟥 : 4
🆘 : 2
Previous 5: 🟥 🟩 🟨 🟥 🟥
Last Match: 🟥 8 Jan 23, Villa 1-2 Stevenage (h)
Cards: 🟥 🟨 🟨 🟨 🟨
Assistants: Steven Meredith, Samuel Lewis.
Fourth official: Peter Bankes.
VAR: Neil Swarbrick.
Assistant VAR: Dan Robathan.

ALL THE MATCHES REFEREED BY:

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CARDS

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None

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🟥 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
🟨 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
🟨 Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
🟨 Timothy Castagne
🟨 Wout Faes

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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TEAM NEWS

TEAM STATS

Boubacar Kamara drops out after his first half relapse at Chelsea on Saturday and so Unai Emery hands another chance to Leon Bailey. Ashley Young remains in place of the injured Matty Cash whilst there is another squad debut tonight with under-21s left back Seb Revan making the 20.

Starting XI Average Age: | 28.04 |
Bench Average Age: | 26.32 |
Squad Average Age: | 27.18 |
Subs Average Age: | 26.22 |
Oldest Starter: RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 37.76 |
Youngest Starter: M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 21.87 |
Oldest Squad Player: RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 37.76 |
Youngest Squad Player: CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | 19.32 |
Oldest Substitute: LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | 29.73 |
Youngest Substitute: CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | 19.32 |

Referee
Manager

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

MANAGER

Unai Emery | 🇪🇸 | 2022-

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Aston Villa

GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 |
LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | 🔁 |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | 🔁 |
W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | 🔥 |
CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

MANAGER

Mike Stowell | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | (Caretaker)

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Leicester City

GK Daniel Iversen | 🇩🇰 |
RB Timothy Castagne | 🇧🇪 | 🟨 |
CB Harry Souttar | 🇦🇺 |
CB Wout Faes | 🇧🇪 | 🟨 |
LB Victor Kristiansen | 🇩🇰 |
M Nampalys Mendy | 🇸🇳 |
M Wilfrid Ndidi | 🇳🇬 |
M Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟨 | 🟨 | 🟥 |
M James Maddison | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |
W Harvey Barnes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |
CF Jamie Vardy | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🔁 |

Line Ups

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | for M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 79’ |
🔁 | LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | for LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | 85’ |
🔁 | W Bertrand Traoré | 🇧🇫 | ⚽ | for W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | 85’ |
🔁 | CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | for RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 85’ |

SUBSTITUTES

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🔁 | CF Patson Daka | 🇿🇲 | for CF Jamie Vardy | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 76’ |
🔁 | RB Ricardo Pereira | 🇵🇹 | for M James Maddison | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 85’ |

Substitutes

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 |
GK Viljami Sinisalo | 🇫🇮 |
CB Diego Carlos | 🇧🇷 |
CB Seb Revan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Leander Dendoncker | 🇧🇪 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

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GK Danny Ward | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |
LB Luke Thomas | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
CB Daniel Amartey | 🇬🇭 |
M Dennis Praet | 🇧🇪 |
M Boubakary Soumaré | 🇫🇷 |
W Tetê | 🇧🇷 |
CF Kelechi Iheanacho | 🇳🇬 |

Player Positions:

GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half


M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward

Match Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Squad Bios

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £171.57m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 6/11
Homegrown: 1/11
Subs Cost: £58.21m
Team Cost: £229.78m
Squad Cost: £274.33m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 8/20
Homegrown: 3/20

SQUAD STATS

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1st XI Cost: £113.59m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 4/11
Homegrown: 2/11
Subs Cost: £46.28m
Team Cost: £159.87m
Squad Cost: £237.73m
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 5/20
Homegrown: 5/20

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Emiliano Martínez | 🇦🇷 | £19.58m |
GK Robin Olsen | 🇸🇪 | £3.15m |
GK Viljami Sinisalo | 🇫🇮 | Free |

LB Lucas Digne | 🇫🇷 | £27.00m |
LB Álex Moreno | 🇪🇸 | £12.00m |
RB Ashley Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

CB Diego Carlos | 🇧🇷 | £27.90m |
CB Tyrone Mings | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £20.60m |
CB Ezri Konsa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £11.97m |
CB Seb Revan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
CB Calum Chambers | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Free |

M Douglas Luiz | 🇧🇷 | £15.12m |
M Leander Dendoncker | 🇧🇪 | £13.50m |
M John McGinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | £2.79m |
M Jacob Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

W Emiliano Buendía | 🇦🇷 | £34.56m |
W Leon Bailey | 🇯🇲 | £28.80m |
W Bertrand Traoré | 🇧🇫 | £16.56m |

CF Ollie Watkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £27.72m |
CF Jhon Durán | 🇨🇴 | £14.65m |

MATCHDAY SQUAD

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GK Danny Ward | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 | £12.60m |
GK Daniel Iversen | 🇩🇰 | £0.23m |

RB Ricardo Pereira | 🇵🇹 | £19.28m |
RB Timothy Castagne | 🇧🇪 | £18.00m |
LB Victor Kristiansen | 🇩🇰 | £12.39m |
LB Luke Thomas | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

CB Harry Souttar | 🇦🇺 | £15.00m |
CB Wout Faes | 🇧🇪 | £15.00m |
CB Daniel Amartey | 🇬🇭 | £5.80m |

M James Maddison | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £22.50m |
M Boubakary Soumaré | 🇫🇷 | £17.53m |
M Dennis Praet | 🇧🇪 | £17.00m |
M Wilfrid Ndidi | 🇳🇬 | £15.40m |
M Nampalys Mendy | 🇸🇳 | £13.95m |
M Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |

W Harvey Barnes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Youth |
W Tetê | 🇧🇷 | Loan |

CF Patson Daka | 🇿🇲 | £27.00m |
CF Kelechi Iheanacho | 🇳🇬 | £24.93m |
CF Jamie Vardy | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | £1.12m |

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

UNAVAILABLE

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Injury | 4 |
GK Jed Steer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Achilles, 6 Aug 2022 [32]
M Philippe Coutinho | 🇧🇷 | Muscle, 25 Feb 2023 [6]
RB Matty Cash | 🇵🇱 | Calf, 1 Apr 2023 [2]
M Boubacar Kamara | 🇫🇷 | Ankle, 4 Apr 2023 [1]

Unregistered | 1 |
CB Kortney Hause | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Out On Loan | 12 |
M Finn Azaz | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Plymouth
CF Wesley | 🇧🇷 | Levante
W Jaden Philogene-Bidace | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Cardiff
CF Keinan Davis | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Watford
FB Ben Chrisene | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Kilmarnock
M Tim Iroegbunam | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | QPR
CF Cameron Archer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Middlesbrough
M Morgan Sanson | 🇫🇷 | Strasbourg
CF Louie Barry | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Salford City
M Aaron Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Middlesbrough
M Marvelous Nakamba | 🇿🇼 | Luton Town
CB Lamare Bogarde | 🇳🇱 | Bristol Rovers

UNAVAILABLE

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Not Recorded

Unavailable

LEAGUE TABLE

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MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

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Tables & Programmes

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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MATCH QUOTES

“We want to add offensively more moments and to keep ball possession better than [vs Chelsea]. That is the key - defend like we did against Chelsea and to try to control the game more with the ball. “We are excited to play today and excited to show our best performance. “We are going to try and continue with our idea and with a new coach I think they [Leicester] are going to change something. We are going to try and be focused on our work and try and win here.” “The key is to try and be consistent and be competitive. We have to be demanding of ourselves and be ambitious.” Unai Emery, pre-match. “I want to thank the supporters. They were with us as well enjoying and trying to support us. They have a very big responsibility as well to try and help us to play and to be competitive and to get the points. We want to share our good moments with them. “Bertrand Traore! He’s very appreciated in the dressing room. Everybody loves him. He decided to come back [in January] to help us. He was progressing because he was injured at the beginning and, today, everyone is happy. “He’s a very good guy. He has good skills, good 1-vs-1. He has the capacity to score and he helps us. The goal is great for him. “We have to be consistent now in the top 10. “Of course, with those victories we have added six points in the table. Now, we can add another step ahead thinking to be candidate to be in the European position. “But it’s going to be very difficult because of Brighton, Brentford - they’re playing very well. We’re now with them - Chelsea and Liverpool as well, they have to be in Europe next year and we have to fight with them to be in Europe. They will react as well. We can have ambition and motivation to try to be a candidate. “I tried to use my experiences here and to do one process: to be competitive and to work tactically in different ways like we are doing. Being organised defensively and offensively. We are feeling good. I think the players are trying to understand that we have to be very demanding. “We have to work, practice and be together because football is very difficult. We escaped from the bottom because the players have been very committed to the work. But we have to add a new target in our next matches. We can’t be the next candidate to be in the Europa position without this. “We’re not going to stop or relax. Tomorrow we’re going to rest but Thursday and Friday we’re going to focus on the match on Saturday because it’s going to be very difficult against Nottingham. We want to be connected with the supporters at home. “We are progressing and quickly being competitive. I arrived here when [Villa] didn’t win one match away. It’s not normal like we are doing away in this competitive way. I’ve been very demanding with them because winning away is more difficult than winning at home. Now it’s different for us - more difficult at home for us rather than away. “The idea is to create and build a team and a way. That is the idea every day when I speak with the owners and with the players. I’m telling them that we have to be professional way. We have to improve and accept sometimes big criticism because we want to be competitive. “We have to create a strong mentality away, that was the idea. And if we can add now a new objective in our matches from here until the end - we are going to do it. Now we are in the top 10. We have to prepare now for Saturday. We will improve ourselves. “I don’t analyse other strikers. For us, [Ollie Watkins] is very important. He’s not only scoring but his commitment every day trying to add more work, watching his clips. He’s the first defence in our idea, trying to be consistent. He’s working very well with the high pressing. He’s trying to fight with the defenders. He’s scoring and he’s adding the best quality as a striker - the goal.” Unai Emery. “I like to take challenges, always, with my striker, with my coaching. Because I like to be offensive and to be a winner. “The striker is very important to me. I spoke with [Watkins] at the beginning about the relationship here. I told him that I want the best of you and the way he is doing; practicing, being humble to improve. This is the way. “Then, he has a big career to do in his future. It’s very important as well to try and speak about other players because he is not going to score if his teammates aren’t helping him to do it. “For us, Ollie Watkins is very important. He’s not only scoring but his commitment every day trying to add more work, watching his clips. He’s the first defence in our idea, trying to be consistent. He’s working very well with the high pressing. He’s trying to fight with the defenders. He’s scoring and he’s adding the best quality as a striker - the goal.” Unai Emery. “I’ve been frustrated in the past because I know I can hit these sorts of levels. “Maybe I was trying too hard because I know I’m capable of it. It’s nice that I’m showing people what I’m capable of doing, and long may it continue.” Ollie Watkins. “Great win, three points and I’m on the scoresheet again, so I’m very happy. “It’s always what you dream about when you come on as a substitute, try to make an impact, try to help the team. “I was coming in and we were drawing 1-1, we really wanted to win this game so I tried to help the team as much as possible. “I was happy, I was lucky also that I was rewarded with the winning goal. So, I’m happy for the team. “We have a good squad of players and friends, so we are in a good way and we are in a good place. “We have a good atmosphere in and around the pitch, this is really important for the rest of the season and for the future of this team. “Some things I don’t control like injuries and other things. “Under the previous manager I was pulled out of the first team squad and went training for two weeks with the under-23s before I went out on loan. “It was really frustrating for me. But it is part of our job and part of football. “This is behind me now and I am just focused now on what I have to do on the pitch to try to help the team and give love to the fans to keep on working on the pitch, this is what a football player can do. “I had a conversation with the manager from ages ago as I played against him a lot of times. “He believed in me and I think he is on my side and I want to give back so he doesn’t believe in me for nothing. I am also trying to give back to the team and the fans who have supported me. “It feels good for me because I travelled a lot the last two seasons with a lot of injuries and had some trouble with the previous manager. The new manager gave me a new chance. “I came back from my loan injured and had to work hard to get fit and then the team was doing well. I have to work hard to get back in the team but I think I am in a good way and will keep on working hard. I will try to help as much as possible when I get my chance.” Bertrand Traoré.
Quotes

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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MATCH REPORTS

Opens in New Window

*BBC Sport*
Tuesday, 4 April 2023

**Managerless Leicester City’s relegation worries deepened as in-form Aston Villa secured a dramatic late win at King Power Stadium.** The Foxes looked set to secure a valuable point in their first game since sacking Brendan Rodgers despite Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall’s red card. Ollie Watkins marked his 100th Premier League appearance by slotting Villa ahead with his eighth goal in 10 appearances after being sent through by Emiliano Buendia. Villa had only conceded once in their previous five games but were undone by Harvey Barnes’ excellent finish after he had shrugged off Ashley Young and cut in from the wing following Wout Faes’ raking pass. Dewsbury-Hall was sent off midway through the second half for a second bookable offence but the Foxes held on until substitute Bertrand Traore curled in Villa’s 87th-minute winner. The drama continued when Leicester were awarded a 92nd-minute penalty - only for referee Graham Scott to overturn his decision after looking at a replay on the pitchside monitor. ### Foxes slip into further trouble The alarm bells are ringing at the King Power, seven years after Leicester’s extraordinary Premier League title triumph. The Foxes are without a manager and remain in the relegation zone, two points from safety, after conceding a late winner for the second successive game. Last Saturday they were sunk by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s 94th-minute goal in Rodgers’ final game in charge. First-team coach Adam Sadler and goalkeeping coach Mike Stowell took charge against Villa but Leicester’s season of hard-luck stories continued, this time by Traore’s finish from outside the box. Their hopes were raised by the awarding of a late penalty after a challenge between Watkins and substitute Patson Daka, only for referee Scott to change his mind after watching the replay following a VAR intervention. With just nine games remaining, Leicester’s fate remains in their own hands with five matches against teams near the bottom - starting with Saturday’s visit of 18th-placed Bournemouth. Whether they will have appointed a permanent replacement for Rodgers by then remains to be seen, but the Foxes desperately need to start picking up points. “Until we hear different, Mike and I will continue to give everything for the club,” said Sadler. “We have been here a long time, we know the people inside out, they know us - so if it continues to be us, we will give everything for the club.” ### Villa thriving under Emery Leicester can only hope their new permanent appointment will make as positive an impact as Unai Emery has at Villa. They were 17th when they sacked Steven Gerrard and replaced him with the former Arsenal boss last October. Under Emery’s guidance, Villa have won 10 of their 16 Premier League games and their latest success lifted them to seventh, with a place in Europe now a real possibility. “Now we can add another step of thinking we can be a candidate to be in a European position - but it is going to be difficult because Brighton and Brentford are playing very well,” said Emery. “Chelsea and Liverpool have to be in Europe next year, they will fight for it, but we can have ambition and motivation to try to be a candidate.” Villa’s sixth Premier League away win in eight games under the Spaniard epitomised the spirit and confidence flowing through this Villa team, while Watkins continues to impress in front of goal. He has not appeared for England since March 2022 but was name-checked by Gareth Southgate when he announced his Euro 2024 qualifiers squad and he will be hard to ignore if he carries on his impressive scoring form.
Reports

🟩 4 April 2023, Villa 2-1 Leicester, King Power Stadium

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