Unai Emery admitted he is “so, so grateful” to manage Ollie Watkins after the forward became Aston Villa’s outright record Premier League goalscorer to fire the club into Europe.
England international Watkins moved on to 75 top-flight strikes for Villa – one more than Gabriel Agbonlahor – by securing Saturday evening’s 1-0 win at Bournemouth.
A seventh victory in eight league games guaranteed a top-seven place for Emery’s side, meaning they will definitely play in continental competition next term.
Villa, who are chasing Champions League qualification via a top-five finish, leapfrogged Nottingham Forest into sixth spot and sit level on 63 points with fourth-placed Newcastle and Chelsea in fifth.
Speaking of Watkins’ record-breaking exploits, head coach Emery said: “It’s fantastic, brilliant.
“He deserves it completely because he is a hard worker. He is committed with Aston Villa.
“His courage has been fantastic and to achieve it is very fantastic. I am so, so grateful to have a player like him.”
Watkins, who joined from Brentford in 2020, touched home Morgan Rogers’ cross six minutes into first-half added time to settle the south-coast contest.
Villa were relatively comfortable at the Vitality Stadium until Jacob Ramsey’s 80th-minute dismissal for a second bookable offence set up a tense finale.
Match-winner Watkins told Sky Sports: “I think it is massive for us. There are a lot of teams that are pushing for Champions League spots and it is going down to the wire.
“Getting that goal to break the record for this club is massive and something I had my eye on when I came to the club. I said it in my first interview and it is a great achievement for me.”
As their quest for a top-five spot reaches a climax, Villa, who progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals this term, face Europa League finalists Tottenham and Manchester United in the final two weeks of the season.
Emery said: “(It’s) fantastic to be again in Europe, for the third year in a row: Conference League, Champions League, and this year Conference League, Europa League or Champions League.
“Of course we have a very ambitious objective.
“We will play matches for it and now I am really enjoying the team, I enjoy how we are competing, I am enjoying how the players are showing the commitment we need to fight again to be in the top positions in the table.”
Ramsey was shown a second yellow card for a foul on Bournemouth substitute David Brooks.
Cherries boss Andoni Iraola disagreed with that punishment but felt Villa defender Tyrone Mings was fortunate to escape an early red card following a “very violent elbow” on Alex Scott, who was later caught in the face by Amadou Onana.
“We’ve sent Alex for an MRI (scan) because he was really feeling it,” said Iraola. “I think it is a very violent elbow – very violent. Tyrone Mings sees that Alex is coming and it’s a very violent one.
“The second yellow for Ramsey, I don’t think is a second yellow. Obviously a red card in the sixth minute (Mings) or a red card the 80th minute, the value is very, very different. But we cannot change this.”
European hopefuls Bournemouth, who slipped to 10th – two points behind Brentford and Brighton, struggled to create for much of the evening.
However, Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez produced a superb stop to deny Antoine Semenyo a last-gasp leveller, with Daniel Jebbison unable to turn home the rebound.
“It’s obviously a missed opportunity,” said Iraola. “We knew that the game was going to be difficult.
“It has been more a game that Villa wanted to play, especially first half, a lot of stops, very slow rhythm.
“Key moments, they matter a lot and it’s a great save from Martinez.”
