What Mauricio Pochettino liked most about beating top-four Aston Villa

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Chelsea’s coach Mauricio Pochettino liked one thing about the concluded FA Cup second leg between Chelsea and Aston Villa. The Blues had emphatically beat a top-four Premier League Villa while sitting on the 11th place.

Speaking in a post-match interview posted by Chelseafc.com, Pochettino said, ‘I am very pleased, first of all because the players were fantastic.

‘They played very well, were free and enjoyed the game – which is important because football should be about joy – against a team that is doing a fantastic job, that is so difficult to beat here. They are full of confidence in the top four.

‘That is why I am really pleased with the performance because I think it will provide us the capacity to really believe that if we all fight together and approach games the way we approached the game today we are capable of performing in this way.

‘I think it was one of the best performances of the season, we played well against a very difficult team. Aston Villa is doing a fantastic job and are opposition who are in the top four and are the second best team playing at home.

‘That is why it was really difficult but we are so pleased with the performance. I think the players believed and the way we played was fantastic, so we need to say congratulations to the players.’

Chelsea beat Aston Villa 3–1 to advance to the fourth round of the tournament following goals by Nicolas Jackson, Malo Gusto and Endo Fernandez.

The Blues’ player Conor Gallagher said the following later according to club’s official outlet:

‘I think after our last couple of performances everyone was determined to have a good one tonight and it was, and most importantly, it was a win as well, he said.

‘There was a lot of hunger and that’s what we need every game. I think before the game you could sense that because the last two games have not been good enough by our standards. Everyone was really up for it and raring to give our fans a good performance and we did.

‘We know how we can play – tonight we showed that. A lot of times this season we haven’t been good enough, but also a lot of times we have been really good against the top teams so we know how good we can be.

‘We’re really buzzing and Villa are a top team so to beat them tonight, and the way we did it, was brilliant so we will take a lot of confidence from that, and hopefully take it into the next game.’

Chelsea will meet number one Premier League club Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on February 25 for the Carabao Cup final. During that match, a performance like the one against Villa will certainly look like an upset.