Emi Martinez: The Aston Villa goalkeeper is bringing them closer to Europa League glory under Unai Emery

Emery became the fastest Villa coach to achieve 100 victories after his victory in France last week.

Villa Park saw the achievement as fans held up ‘Emery 100’ cards as the teams walked off.

He knows how to get the job done, and with Villa searching for their first title in three decades, the end of their drought is in sight.

Villa did what was necessary against Lille, even if the performance still lacked the style, rhythm and level they have shown this season.

These levels of tumble remain in the Premier League, where they have managed just two wins from 10 matches, which has increased the risk, something that did not seem likely at the start of the year.

Overhauled by Manchester United, Villa – who host West Ham on Sunday – are lucky to still be in the top five, mainly due to the failures of Liverpool and Chelsea.

But Emery, rightly, continues to demand judgment on him after 38 games and where he will be at the end of the season.

He was asked last month about being in the title race, and on Wednesday he indicated that being in Europe and being in the top four was just a dream for the club when he took over three and a half years ago.

In his first press conference, the former Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain coach stated that he came to Birmingham to win trophies and Villa came a little closer to that goal.

Emery has now reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League for the eighth time, no other coach has done so more than five times, while Villa have reached the quarter-finals of a major European competition in three successive seasons.

“villa [were] “He was very professional, nothing special, just did enough to get through to the next round,” the Dubliner said.

“This is what they need, but they will have to raise their game if they want to reach the final stages of the competition.

“I think they have more to offer. If they do that, they could really surprise a few people.”