Ezri Konsa said that Marcus Rashford has another smile on his face after he was on his way to a 3-0 win in Brighton on Wednesday.
After having scored his first goals for the club against Preston in the FA Cup last weekend, Rashford celebrated his first Premier League strike for Villa early in the second half.
It was his fifth goal in the competition against Brighton, only more against Leicester City (Acht), Arsenal (six) and Tottenham Hotspur (six).
Late goals from Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen have completed the points for Villa to significantly increase their hope for finishing at the Champions League places.
It was also the biggest win of the Villans in the Premier League since he defeated Sheffield United 5-0 almost exactly a year ago today.
Rashford looked rejuvenated since he made the loan of Manchester United in January and England teammate Konsa spoke about his joy for the attacker.
Konsa said to Sky Sports: “He has another smile on his face. He looks like he is enjoying football again. I am so happy with him.
“We have to make the game for the game. Now they are all eyes on Saturday.”
Step in, marcus pic.twitter.com/hq4i4argmi
– Aston Villa (@AVFCofficial) 2 April 2025
Villa climbed to the seventh as a result of their victory and was three points on Manchester City in fourth place, while the gap to the fifth – which could be enough for Champions League football through the competition – is only two points.
The men of Unai Emery are of course still in the competition of this season, but Konsa acknowledged the importance of the victory.
“We knew that this was an important game for us, it had to win. We came to win and that is what we did,” Konsa added.
“The Champions League is the main goal. We will concentrate on Saturday, another big one for us.
“I thought we were defensive, we were excellent. All 11 of us stayed together. I didn't feel threatened at all.
“We have succeeded in getting them on the counterattack a few times and we have a few goals.
“It was everyone's wish. We kept a few clean sheets in succession. In the last few games we have shown that we can do it.”
Villa has now won back-to-back top flight matches for the first time since August. Indeed, they had only won one of their previous nine on the road in advance (D1 L7).
And they will hope to continue their good shape against high-flying Nottingham Forest this Saturday prior to their heavyweight collision with Paris Saint-Germain.
Comments