Unai Emery hailed Aston Villa’s fans as the team’s 12th player after they broke the club record for consecutive home league wins.
The head coach watched his side complete a 15th straight league victory in B6 as they overcame Arsenal 1-0.
And Emery praised the support from the stands in his post-match interview.
“It was an amazing day with our amazing supporters here in Villa Park,” he said.
“The atmosphere we’re creating here is really brilliant and we are playing with 11 players and one more: our supporters. The fans are always transmitting their energy.
“Today we finished this week and the tough matches we’ve played with fantastic wins against Manchester City and Arsenal and an important draw at Bournemouth – sometimes when you can’t win it’s important to have the mentality to take a point.
“We are happy but we have to keep good balance in our minds. Okay, we are there (third in the table) but it’s only game 16. We have to try to enjoy and to do the way trying to improve and increase our level, trying to make our mentality better and better.”
Triumph against the team who began the weekend top of the league followed hot on the heels of a midweek success against fellow title contenders Manchester City.
It’s been a week to savour for Emery, who reflected fondly on an incredible achievement.
“I’ve never won so many matches like here and I don’t think I’ll win as many matches in a row again. It’s completely amazing and very difficult to repeat.
“We are doing it because we are only thinking about each match and only focusing on each moment.
“Today we finished this week playing the best two teams in the Premier League, Manchester City and Arsenal, and we won both matches. It’s fantastic.”