A brace from Roberto Soldado allied to a strike from January signing Jonas gave the hosts the three points and strengthened their hold on third spot as they look to hold off Villarreal for the automatic Champions League slot.
“It is true that at the beginning of the season we thought we could get fourth place, but objectives can change and now we have the third place in our sights, as well as the desire to play well,” he told in the post-match press conference.
“The messages from the club were clear at the start of the season. We knew we were in difficulty but we have overcome them. Today was a day when we had to get a result. We wanted to play a little better but we are satisfied.”
Emery highlighted the mercurial and inconsistent nature of his team as a reason why they have not yet sewn up third spot and he believes the team need to be more clinical.
“Our intensity dropped in the second-half and we need to improve in this regard,” he said. “If we had a better mentality, we would easily be third.
“We had some chances to score after the break, but we finished them poorly. We now have to focus completely on the next game against Zaragoza.”
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Valencia’s Unai Emery satisfied after win over Real Sociedad but admits things can still improve