Aston Villa boss Gerard Houllier has praised his ‘physically and technically superior’ side for outlasting Wigan Athletic 2-1 on Tuesday.
Gabriel Agbonlahor headed Villa into the lead five minutes after the restart of the English Premier League encounter, and Ashley Young made it 2-0 from the penalty spot 12 minutes later.
James McCarthy drew one back for Wigan in the 80th minute but Villa held on through a frenetic final 10 minutes plus stoppage time to record back-to-back wins for the first time under Houllier.
The Villa boss, who took over the position left vacant by Martin O’Neill in September, was delighted by the character shown by his side to hold on for a valuable three points at DW Stadium.
“I think we had everything,” Houllier told Sky Sports.
“They (Wigan) really made it difficult at the start. We had a couple of chances but we didn’t control the game as much as we did in the second-half.”
“I think we were physically and technically superior to them. The players today, in terms of the discipline and the effort, were tremendous.”
He added: “It’s never easy. There’s a very fine line between winning and losing.”
“I was disappointed because I wanted to see a clean sheet for the defenders. But at the same time I was happy with the way we reacted. They were composed and confident and not scared.”
“But I was very pleased with my players because, after a huge game against Manchester City (on Saturday), I thought that some of them could be flat.”
“But they worked very hard, probably as hard as they did last Saturday. Nathan Baker and (Jean) Makoun, I thought, did extremely well.”
Wigan boss Roberto Martinez was deflated by the loss but could still take a number of positives from the close-run match.
“When you play at home, you are disappointed (to lose),” Martinez said.
“But, looking at the first-half that we had, we created two very good chances and sometimes that lack of composure, or good defending, will stop you from getting that first goal.”
“In the second half, in a very short period, we conceded a goal from a corner and then the second goal from a penalty is a real mountain to climb.”
“But the reaction from then on was brilliant to see; we got one goal back and it seems like, if the game had been longer, we would have got something.”
“I’ve got no problem with losing a football game when you show that desire and that effort. I think the players today performed in a great manner.”
“We never gave in and that’s very, very important.”
Wed 26 January, 2011