Leon Bailey hailed Aston Villa’s “brilliant” victory over Arsenal at Emirates Stadium and believes both he and his team-mates can take a huge amount of confidence into the final stages of the season.
Unai Emery’s side were superb in north London and sealed all three points courtesy of Bailey’s 84th-minute strike, his 13th goal of the season, and Ollie Watkins’ delightful finish shortly afterwards.
It clinched a third Premier League double over the Gunners as Villa moved on to 63 points - eclipsing their tally from last season with five matches remaining.
“It was brilliant,” Bailey told VillaTV post-match.
“It’s nice to be a Villa player and a Villa fan.
“It’s nice to come away to the Emirates and get three points.
“I think the fans should be buzzing right now, the players are buzzing, I’m buzzing to be able to come on and contribute.
“So, it’s a great Sunday.”
The memorable triumph in the capital was a club-record 19th win in a 38-game Premier League season.
It also saw Watkins equal the tally of 19 Premier League goals set by Christian Benteke in 2012/13.
And Bailey feels Villa, who now face LOSC Lille in the second leg of their Europa Conference League quarter-final, can take plenty of positives into the final weeks of the season.
“I definitely will take confidence from it and I think the team should take a lot of confidence from this game as well,” said the forward.
“The way we played here, coming to the Emirates, Arsenal are a very strong team with a very good coach. Their structure and the way they play is great.
“But I think the way we set out was so strong and I think the team really didn’t give up too much and we created opportunities at the same time.
“So, it wasn’t just only defending.
“I think from this, we should really take this game into consideration and give ourselves a lot of confidence moving forward.
“The way we played here was really good.”
You can watch Leon’s full interview below…
