'The most satisfying win of the season'

, 1 February, 0comments  |  Jump to most recent

Mirallas celebrates with Martinez on the touchline following his late winner
Roberto Martinez was thrilled with the way in which his team responded to the disappointing display at Anfield on Tuesday, describing today's win over Aston Villa as his most satisfying of the season.

Everton came back from a goal down to overcome a stubborn defensive stand by Paul Lambert's side to prevail 2-1 thanks to Steven Naismith's equaliser and a brilliant free kick by Kevin Mirallas.

The manager said that it was important to bounce back from the Liverpool defeat but admitted that he was concerned by how cagey his side was in the first half.

"I think it's without the doubt the most satisfying win of the season," he told BBC Sport. "You come in on the back of a disappointing result and you want to get it right straight away.

"But in the first half we were too responsible, we couldn't express ourselves and the players were thinking too much, and we were too concerned with the outcome rather than enjoying it.

"We hit the post and we concede a goal, so it becomes a real adversity moment, but the way we reacted was an incredible example. After that test, we are ready to finish the season as strong as we can."

The Spaniard also reflected on what he described as Mirallas's perfect execution from the dead-ball situation five minutes from time, saying that it's "one thing to have the technical ability to strike the ball but to hit it at the right time when it matters is the sign of a star player."

Quotes or other material sourced from BBC Sport





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