Leeds United tiredness played part in Aston Villa fightback says Unai Emery
Leeds United conceded two second-half goals to go from 1-0 up to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery felt tiredness crept in for Leeds United as his men scored twice in the second half to win at Elland Road.
The Villains found themselves a goal down early on as Emi Martinez flapped at a high ball and Ezri Konsa's clearance rebounded off Lukas Nmecha and into the net. Leeds made the first half a scrappy, physical affair but within three minutes of the restart one of Emery's half-time replacements Donyell Malen whipped in a cross and Morgan Rogers deflected it past Lucas Perri. With 15 minutes remaining Rogers fired in a direct free-kick that saw the points return to Birmingham.
"Very happy because we were challenged in his match, after the break, [on] how we're progressing," he said. "[But] we started like the season, poor, conceded one goal. The first half was not getting the rhythm we wanted. We didn't play very brilliant at getting our gameplan, dominating more, getting in the box, creating chances like we needed. The second half I think they were maybe getting tired and we could dominate more. We scored quick and could get confidence progressively during the match. The second half is the most important, I can tell, for us."
The win pushed Villa up to fourth in the Premier League table and Emery is delighted with how they have developed after a slow start to the campaign.
"Through our structure, being disciplined, organised, playing with personality, each one feeling comfortable in their best position, getting confidence," he said. "How we're progressively getting better is something I'm proud of. Now we're getting better in the table."