Roberto De Zerbi praised his players for showing ‘a big reaction’ after Albion returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa.
Joao Pedro’s 20th goal of the season late on sealed Albion’s first home win over Villa in all competitions for 44 years and De Zerbi felt it was deserved.
“When you make a bad result you have to show pride and a good attitude and I think we did," said De Zerbi. "It wasn’t amazing in terms of quality of football, but we showed a big reaction against one of the best teams in the Premier League.
“We deserved to win and we could have scored more goals. It was perhaps not the true Villa, maybe they were tired. But defensively we played very well and we created a lot of chances. We made mistakes in the last part of the pitch and have to be better, but [goalkeeper Robin] Olsen was the best player for Villa.”
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De Zerbi praised his defence and singled out Adam Webster, whose opportunities in central defence have been restricted by injuries and the form of Jan Paul van Hecke this season.
“I congratulate him [Webster]. He hasn’t played so many games because JP has played very well and he has suffered two or three injuries. But he is an important player for us and showed a great physical condition and he was faster than before.”
Match reaction in association with SnickersUK.com