Emery wants more from Villa despite securing FA Cup fifth round passage

Unai Emery conceded that Aston Villa still have a lot more work to do despite booking their place in the FA Cup fifth round following a 2-1 win over Tottenham on Sunday.

Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers’ goals either side of half-time were enough for Villa, with Mathys Tel’s late strike proving to be just a consolation for Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Villa have now won both of their FA Cup matches in 2024-25, as many victories as they managed in the competition in the previous nine seasons combined (W2 D2 L9 – between 2015-16 and 2023-24).

And the hosts were worthy of their win after they registered an expected goals (xG) total of 2.06 from their 16 shots to their opponents’ 1.13 from their 11 efforts.

“I am very happy. It was a fantastic match against a very good team, Tottenham, and we played really well. After a long time, we are in the fifth round of the FA Cup,” Emery said.

“I know how much this competition means for our supporters and us, and I am happy for the fans. We are playing more or less as we planned.

“We dominated and played with confidence and personality – everything we did today was more or less very good.”

All smiles from The Boss pic.twitter.com/BY69QLYyse

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 9, 2025

Emery also lauded Rogers for his display, with the midfielder netting his eighth goal in as many appearances at Villa Park in the 64th minute of the encounter.

Indeed, since the start of December, Rogers has the most goals scored by a Premier League player at a specific venue across all competitions (one more than Cody Gakpo at Anfield, seven).

Rogers also ended the contest having created a team-high four chances as well as playing more passes into the final third (19) than any of his team-mates in the contest.

“Morgan is performing fantastic. His commitment to doing his task every day from the first minute to 90 is great. We did a lot of positive things today,” Emery said.

“It will be very demanding for us in this competition, so we will need to improve and increase our level.

“We are with the motivation to get something in this competition as well as the Premier League and Champions League. We still have a lot of work to do.”

There were also debuts for January arrivals Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio, with Emery believing the pair can play an important role for the rest of the campaign.

“We have to protect every player and try to adapt them into our structure and use their skills. Asensio, Rashford and Malen are versatile players in the attacking third,” he added.

“We can feel confident to have them.

“We are very demanding in our way because we want to be in the top six or top five in the Premier League as well as in the Champions League, where we are in the last 16.”

in claret and blue pic.twitter.com/VSBD77D9Wn

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) February 9, 2025