Emery aiming to make Villa Park a fortress as resurgence continues with Burnley win

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says he wants his side to make Villa Park a fortress as they recorded their third home win in a row with a 2-1 victory over Burnley.

Donyell Malan gave the home side the lead with a fine finish after being set up by Boubacar Kamara, who had a strong game in the middle of the park.

The Dutchman scored again in the second half with a rasping half-volleyed finish to double their advantage, and Villa created other opportunities to add to their tally.

Despite their dominance, they were made to hold on somewhat, as Leslie Ugochukwu headed home from a corner unmarked to pull a goal back for the visitors, but Emery's team came through to win a fourth match in succession across all competitions.

Villa have now remained unbeaten in each of their last 30 Premier League home games when scoring first, with only Liverpool and Manchester United on a longer run in the top-flight, and the Spaniard hopes their home form can act as the base for another strong campaign after a difficult start.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Emery said: "Here in Villa Park we have to make it a fortress, we have to compete and we are finishing before the international break in good balance.

"We are feeling more comfortable than we were. I am really happy how the players have responded with our demands."

Emery was also delighted to see players returning from injury, and hopes he can call upon a few more when the league resumes in a fortnight following the international break.

He said: "We recover [from injury] Ross Barkley and Amadou Onana. Lamare Bogarde is playing fantastic, he is adapting to our demands. Hopefully we can keep getting better and adding more players.

"We have other players to help us. Today, very grateful to the supporters and now we are going to rest for two weeks. We will be motivated and excited for the rest of the season."

Emery also praised the performance of Malen, who scored a brace for the first time since he managed the feat for Borussia Dortmund against Freiburg in February 2024.

Indeed, Malen made his 21st Premier League appearance today but only his fourth start – the forward has now scored three goals across those four starts, also netting against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park back in April.

"We settled him a little bit with some technical balance," said Emery. "He was close to scoring and he scored, fantastic."

Scott Parker acknowledged that his young side were naïve at times, with Burnley now going five matches without a victory in the Premier League, which leaves them 18th in the table going into the second international break.

The Clarets have also now lost each of their opening four away games of a league season for the first time since 2009-10 in the Premier League. Only in that 2009-10 campaign have they conceded more times (14) in their first four away games of a top-flight season than the 13 they have leaked this term.

"We were competitive, the second goal was poor from us. It's a young team and I think over the first seven games we have switched off at times," Parker said.

"If you switch off for one second here you get punished."

Malen's first goal saw Burnley's high defensive line completely exposed by one long-range pass from Kamara, and Parker acknowledged the improvements his young backline must make. 

"It's another brand new team, it is a brand new defensive line and we are working tirelessly with that," he said. "We have switched off in certain moments and looked a bit young.

"There is frustration there because we have been really close. Perspective is something that I live by. We understand the challenge. We need to improve in certain areas and we will endeavour to do that."