Aston Villa have given their Champions League qualification hopes a big boost in their 1-0 win over Fulham in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off.
Youri Tielemans scored the only goal on the game in the 12th minute, heading home past Bernd Leno from John McGinn’s corner.
Aston Villa had numerous chances to go further in front, while Fulham had opportunities to equalise, but in the end, Tielemans’ goal was the difference.
Although the Villans kept a clean sheet, there were some sloppy moments, and Unai Emery was visibly angry with Ezri Konsa early in the second half.
Konsa was dispossessed in the middle of the park and, rather than tracking back, he looked for a foul, and was way out of position as Fulham countered.
Villa fans on social media all made the same point about the incident – and they believe Emery is in the right.
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Aston Villa fans criticise Ezri Konsa as they agree with Unai Emery
Villa fans felt Konsa is often getting dispossessed and looking for fouls lately, and they said Emery was right to be angry with the defender.
“Konsa far too complacent on the ball like he does quite often,” one fan wrote on X.
“Had several easy passes to make, got caught and nearly got punished so good to see Unai fuming with him.”
Another fan said: “Konsa dwells on the ball too much and too often. Just showed Unai on the touch line and I think he feels the same!”
The criticism of Konsa kept coming, with one supporter writing: “Konsa has to eradicate this weak foul calling.”
Another said: “Konsa has always had a habit of trying to buy free kicks, but he’s becoming reliant on it and it’s a problem.”
Another wrote: “Konsa… does this far too often. Way too lightweight in a 50/50 and gambles on a refs decision.
“One area of his game that needs to improve to go to the next level.”
What Unai Emery said about Aston Villa’s sloppy play after the game
Emery made his feelings very clear after the game on the subject of sloppy play as he criticised his team, albeit without naming any names.
“We finished the first half because we started very well, we dominated and scored a goal, but we stopped a little bit,” he told reporters. “We started to play a bit more backpasses.
“Doing backpasses for one objective, to try to stop them and then progress [is fine], but we weren’t progressing like we needed and how we planned before. Even not doing it, we were losing some easy balls.
“We spoke yesterday and this week about how important it is to try to play and focus seriously for 90 minutes in our game plan, each one to feel comfortable. But if someone is relaxing a little bit, we are closer to losing.
“We should be very demanding every day and in our focus with the game plan to be consistent, expecting them and playing, always being so, so demanding in our process in 90 minutes.
| Ezri Konsa stats v Fulham | |
| Clearances | 6 |
| Blocked shots | 1 |
| Dribbled past | 0 |
| Ground duels (won) | 2 (1) |
| Aerial duels (won) | 5 (4) |
| Possession lost | 4 |
| Accurate passes | 52/54 (96%) |
| Long balls (accurate) | 3 (2) |
“We want to be consistent in the Premier League for 38 matches. But we have to be very consistent for 90 minutes each match.
“When we lost some balls in the first half, in the dressing room I told them, ‘I can’t accept!’. I can’t accept sometimes how we were managing the match.”
