Unai Emery has said Aston Villa will turn their attention to the Premier League’s top-four race after crashing out of the FA Cup against Chelsea.
Villa were beaten at home for only the third time this season after losing 3-1 to the West Londoners in their FA Cup fourth round replay at Villa Park.
Emery’s side started brightly but found themselves two goals down inside 21 minutes, as Conor Gallagher and Nicolas Jackson fired in a quick-fire double for the visitors.
Enzo Fernandez’s free-kick made the result safe for Chelsea, who progressed through to a fifth-round tie with Leeds despite Moussa Diaby’s consolation goal for Villa.
“I’m disappointed we didn’t get a good result,” Emery reflected to the club’s official website.
“We did good effort and got a good result in Chelsea, so we were very excited and motivated for the match tonight here with our supporters.
“We started very well and were creating chances, being close to score. They created chances and they were more clinical than us.
“In the second half we didn’t start like the first half and found it difficult to create clear chances. They scored the one chance they had with their set piece.
“At 3-0, it was very difficult but our spirit was good and we reacted by creating chances. We were pushing with our supporters here to get a goal and have options to get the result back.
“We scored so late and didn’t have time to get more.”
Villa return to Premier League action with a huge home game against Manchester United on Sunday. Emery’s side sit fourth in the table as the club chase Champions League football and a place in Europe’s elite competition for the first time since the early eighties, and the Spaniard said his team feel ‘strong’ in the league this season.
“We are trying to separate each competition and we are being consistent in the Premier League.
“We lost the last game here at home but we reacted very well in Sheffield and we’re going to try again on Sunday here against Manchester United.
“We will try to get positive energy and a good performance in our collective tactical way.
“We will again be focused on the league because in the league we’re feeling strong.”
