Unai Emery urges calm after Aston Villa’s 2-0 win at Newcastle closes the gap on Premier League leaders.
Unai Emery was quick to dismiss growing talk of a Premier League title challenge after Aston Villa’s impressive 2-0 victory away to Newcastle, insisting his side can only be considered genuine contenders if they are still in the race with three games left.
The win at St James’ Park moved Villa to within four points of leaders Arsenal, just before the Gunners suffered a surprise 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United later in the day. Emery’s side now sit third in the table, level on points with reigning champions Manchester City as the title picture begins to take shape.
Despite recording their first league win on Tyneside since 2005, Emery remained characteristically cautious and refused to be drawn into title speculation, pointing out how quickly narratives can change in the Premier League.
“Last week we lost against Everton and nobody was asking me about the title,” Emery said. “Now yes? We have Brentford next week at home. Calm. Balance is the only thing in my mind.”
“We are competing against teams with huge power,” he explained. “But we are competing, we are there, and we are getting points.”
On the pitch, Villa were deserved winners, taking the lead through Buendía’s dipping effort before Watkins wrapped up the points late on.
