Emery hails Aston Villa academy stars for role in Europa League victory
Villa Aston chief Unai Emery hailed his academy stars for their fight in coming from behind to beat RB Salzburg in Europa League THURSDAY.
The Villans had already qualified for the round of 16 of the competition, allowing Emery to rotate his team and give his younger generation a chance.
And the Spanish head coach was rewarded, as 19-year-old Jamaldeen Jimoh scored the late winner at Villa Park.
Unsurprisingly, Emery was full of positive remarks after the match. He said: “Very happy and of course today was a game with potential players that we have as young academy players developing with them.
“And today they had the opportunity to play, George then Jamal [Jimoh-Aloba] and Kadan [Young]. Of course, Jamal scored a goal, really fantastic.
“We expected a tough game because they needed to win. They are brave in playing forward. They try to get into one-on-one duels with us.
“In Europe, with the experiences we have, we know how difficult each match is. Today, playing 90 minutes, creating that energy with our fans is something that we can feel like a competition where we can be protagonists and achieve something.”
Regarding the academy players, he added: “You have to give them chances and these three players are playing, George then Jamal and Kadan, I think it's a good opportunity for them, they have been playing gaining experience and playing the way we need them to in the plan we have with them.
“To achieve a victory, to play with players like them and to create something in this competition that arouses the feelings of our supporters, I think that is very important.”
2026-01-29 22:56:00
