Villa ‘dug deep’ to beat Leeds says Rogers, Farke not worried despite another defeat
Morgan Rogers was delighted to Aston Villa “dig deep” to secure a 2-1 comeback win at Leeds courtesy of his brilliant brace.
Having gone into the half-time break 1-0 down through Lukas Nmecha’s opener, Rogers’ deft touch drew the visitors level early in the second half before the midfielder’s brilliant free-kick in the 75th minute secured the win.
Rogers told BBC Radio Five Live: “It was a great win at a difficult place. We had to dig deep and work hard and show our determination,. We deserved the win in the end.
“When you look at everyone in the room we will work as hard as we can and leave everything out there. We may not be at it as normal but sometimes heart and determination gets you over the line.”
The two goals were his second and third strikes of the season – and the first direct free-kick of his Villa career – which Rogers said is a part of his game he has been working on.
He said: “The manager was banging on at me to get in the box and make runs into the box. There was a lot of pace on the ball so thankfully I was able to direct it. I am happy the free-kick went in.
I tried to replicated Emi [Buendia] and thankfully it went in. I tried a bit in training and have been trying. The set-piece coach is banging on at me to keep trying in training.
“It wasn’t bad. Emi [Buendia]’s been practising, I’ve tried to practise with him. I’m not as good as him. We’ve been practising that technique. I’m happy that went in. I’m happy it worked today.”
Villa are now fourth in the Premier League after winning six of their last seven games, with their poor start to the campaign now becoming a distant memory for Unai Emery’s side.
“A lot of people had opinions on how we started the season but we know how good we are,” Rogers added.
We are playing really well at the moment and full of confidence.”
Farke not concerned by boos
The pressure remains on Leeds boss Daniel Farke after a third straight defeat saw them slip into the relegation zone. The German said his side were unfortunate not to get anything from the game but insists he is confident they are on the right track.
Farke told Match of the Day: “Performance-wise we’ve turned back to what we want to be. We dominated many periods against a very good side.
“We should’ve taken some points from this game. We are not back to our best, we can still improve, but at the end we are just disappointed we did not get any points.
“To concede two goals is not good. As good as we are attacking down the left side at the moment we concede too many goals. We concede so quickly straight after the restart.
“Over the course of 38 games you have ups and downs. It happens sometimes at this level. Performance-wise I was happy. At the moment we are in a period where things are going against us.
“Of course the fans are unhappy and disappointed once we lose games. I don’t want them to have a different reaction. I want them to feel like the world is falling apart when we lose a game, otherwise you can’t be a Leeds United supporter.
“I’m just fully focused on the performance. If we perform like this today we’ll win many more points.”