Unai Emery says Aston Villa are in their “best moment” of the season after beating Tottenham Hotspur in their penultimate game of the Premier League campaign.
A 2-0 triumph at Villa Park kept the home side’s hopes of a top-five finish alive heading into the final round of matches next weekend, when Villa visit Manchester United.
Three points in B6 made it eight wins out nine in the league, while it also stretched the team’s unbeaten home run to 21 games in all competitions.
“I’m very grateful for the supporters,” Emery said.
“Here, we are feeling strong and we’re feeling comfortable. We only lost one match here in the Premier League, the first match against Arsenal.
“Progressively we were getting better. Of course, we drew some matches in the way and now we are missing some points from those moments, but we have to accept it.
“We have to accept the 37 matches we’ve played being consistent, more or less, and getting the moment we are in now, feeling good and in our best moment.
“We’re achieving the challenges we are facing. We enjoyed in the FA Cup and in Carabao Cup, but mostly our moment in the Champions League.
“The Premier League is the most important competition we are facing because through it we are getting again our main objective, and the objective is to be in Europe.
“We are in Europe next year but we are in the running for the Champions League positions, and we can have chances in the last match in Manchester to get it.”
Villa’s victory marked Emery’s 100th league game in charge of the club in style, with supporters staying behind for the annual lap of appreciation after the last home game of the season.
The manager’s appreciation of the Villa faithful is as strong as ever.
He said: “We are doing everything we can [to achieve top five].
“We finished our season here in Villa Park and we are very proud of our supporters. They are transmitting us their energy, positivity and they’re supporting us throughout all the season.
“We are feeling strong here and it’s very important how we are connecting with our supporters and how they are connecting with us.”