Emery Delighted with Villa’s Poise under Pressure in Comeback Win over Everton

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Everton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 14, 2024 Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts Action Images via Reuters
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Everton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 14, 2024 Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts Action Images via Reuters
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Emery Delighted with Villa’s Poise under Pressure in Comeback Win over Everton

Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Everton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 14, 2024 Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts Action Images via Reuters
Football - Premier League - Aston Villa v Everton - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - September 14, 2024 Aston Villa manager Unai Emery reacts Action Images via Reuters

A confident Aston Villa remained patient and made no changes in their game plan after going 2-0 down to Everton, manager Unai Emery said after his side pulled off a 3-2 victory at home in the Premier League on Saturday.

Emery, who last season led Villa to their first top-four finish in the league since 1995-96, was happy with his players' response under pressure, as Ollie Watkins scored a brace and substitute Jhon Duran sealed the win with a long range left-footer.

"Losing 2-0, we were playing well and we were dominating, imposing our positioning and creating chances. We didn´t score and we conceded two opportunities to them and they scored," he told reporters.

"The supporters were really, really understanding of how we could come back the result by being patient, playing with our structure and not changing anything."

The former Arsenal and Paris St Germain manager said Colombia forward Duran, who has come off the bench to score the decisive goal for Villa in three out of four league games this season, has a habit of scoring spectacular long-rangers.

"Jhon Duran did it last year. I remember a goal against Liverpool and Ajax. His shooting is fantastic... when he is trying, we have confidence that he can score a goal like that," Emery said.

The Spaniard also praised Watkins, who found the net for the first time in this campaign.

"We have to be proud of our two strikers," Emery added.

Villa will play their first European top-tier match since 1983 on Tuesday, when they visit Swiss side BSC Young Boys to kick off their Champions League campaign.



Slain Ugandan Olympian Buried with Full Military Honors

Relatives and friends view the body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue in the western city of Eldoret, in Rift Valley, Kenya Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
Relatives and friends view the body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue in the western city of Eldoret, in Rift Valley, Kenya Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
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Slain Ugandan Olympian Buried with Full Military Honors

Relatives and friends view the body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue in the western city of Eldoret, in Rift Valley, Kenya Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)
Relatives and friends view the body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue in the western city of Eldoret, in Rift Valley, Kenya Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Ugandan Olympic runner Rebecca Cheptegei, who died after allegedly being doused in petrol and set alight by her former partner, was due to be buried on Saturday with full military honours.
Cheptegei returned to her home in the highlands of western Kenya, an area popular with international runners for its high altitude training facilities, after coming 44th in the marathon at the Paris Olympics on August 11.
It would be her final race.
Three weeks later her former boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, allegedly attacked Cheptegei as she returned from church with her two daughters and younger sister in the village of Kinyoro, Kenya police and her family said.
Her father Joseph Cheptegei told Reuters that his daughter had approached police at least three times to file complaints against Marangach, most recently on Aug. 30, two days before the alleged attack by her former partner.
She suffered burns to 80% of her body and succumbed to her injuries four days later.
"I don't think I am going to make it," she told her father while being treated in hospital, he said.
"If I die, just bury me at home in Uganda."
Cheptegei's tragic death sparked anger over the high levels of violence against women in Kenya, particularly in the athletics community, with the marathoner becoming the third elite runner to allegedly die at the hands of a romantic partner since 2021.
One in three Kenyan girls or women aged 15-49 have suffered physical violence, according to government data from 2022.
Rights groups say female athletes in Kenya are at a high risk of exploitation and violence by men drawn to their prize money, which far exceeds local incomes.
Cheptegei's sporting successes include winning the 2021 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand, and a year later earning first place in the Padova Marathon in Italy and setting a national record for the marathon.
Born in eastern Uganda in 1991, she met Marangach during a training visit to Kenya, later moving to the country to pursue her dream of becoming an elite runner.
Marangach died a few days after Cheptegei, from burns allegedly sustained during the attack.