Birmingham World reporter Charlie Haffenden reacts to Aston Villa 3-1 AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League.
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00:00 Aston Villa have moved one step closer to securing UEFA Champions League football, now
00:05 six points above Tottenham Hotspur in the race for the top four.
00:09 An incredible 3-1 win over AFC Bournemouth here.
00:13 I say incredible because the effort levels, the determination and the football as well,
00:18 the immense team play, the quick passing, the runs in behind, the ball control, the
00:24 dribbling, the finishing, everything was just sublime from Villa's day.
00:28 And also to come from behind against a very strong, informed Bournemouth team is seriously
00:34 impressive.
00:35 Add into that as well the fact that Villa went the distance against L'Oscar Lille mid-week
00:40 just under 72 hours ago they were in the north of France, going to extra time and penalties
00:46 and an incredibly tense atmosphere in Lille to get through to the UEFA Conference League
00:51 semi-finals.
00:52 The amount of energy that that took, so much energy expended and it's not like Unai Emery
00:58 can rotate too much because of all the injuries he's had to cope with this season.
01:01 So the fact that they've even beaten Bournemouth full stop is impressive but the fashion they
01:06 did it in was just sublime.
01:08 The goals today from Morgan Rodgers, Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby.
01:12 Diaby and Bailey scoring tap-ins but the work before those goals was very good for Molly
01:17 Watkins crossing the ball across the far post after some great work, getting past Leicester
01:22 Zobanyi, rounding Neto for one of those as well.
01:25 Watkins deserved a goal, you could just tell at the end he really wanted to get one in
01:29 the race for the Golden Boot.
01:30 He didn't get one but he did get two assists adding to his tally.
01:33 I think it might even be a dozen assists now in the Premier League this season.
01:37 He must be back to the top of the charts in the English top tier for direct goal involvement
01:41 if you include goals and assists.
01:44 So a very good performance from him.
01:45 Rodgers though, his goal, my word.
01:47 Bailey with a very impressive through ball, outside of his boot, completely tore the Bournemouth
01:55 defence to shreds and then the finish from Rodgers taking the ball into his stride and
01:59 then beating Adam Smith I believe it was with a cut inside and putting it to the roof of
02:04 the net.
02:05 Great composure after running about 20 yards with the ball.
02:08 He's really settled into the Premier League so quickly has Rodgers.
02:11 Only 21 years of age, he expected to take a little while to bed in but pretty much immediately
02:16 he's had a lot of starts under Emery because of the injuries to Jacob Ramsey.
02:21 He doesn't look fazed, he's enjoying the time of his life at the moment and he's only going
02:24 to get better and better.
02:25 It's scary how good that boy could become.
02:28 But it wasn't just him, it was a team performance.
02:30 Watkins as I say, Leon Bailey as well, could have had another assist for a very impressive
02:35 through ball to Watkins in the second half.
02:37 The way he clipped the ball over the top to Watkins with curl and technique was just sublime.
02:43 That player is completely different this season to last.
02:45 Diaby, a little bit of a struggle today despite his goal.
02:48 He did get his goal which ups his rating and my player ratings but his decision making
02:53 was poor.
02:54 And then Matty Cash giving away a penalty for Dominic Solanke in the first half.
02:57 Terrible defending in that instance but we'll try and ignore that, keep the positives going
03:01 for Villa as they move six points clear of Tottenham.
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