'A perfect combination'

When Villa returns to action after Christmas Day, it faces two trips to London that will serve as defining moments in its season.

It meets fourth-placed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Dec 27 before a seismic clash with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium three days later.

If Villa is to maintain its title bid, Emery will have to coax more eye-catching performances from Rogers, whose first-half opener was a sublime curler into the top corner from just inside the area.

"The manager's a genius. He knows what he is doing and knows how to get out of situations," Rogers said.

"The enthusiasm and the way he gets it through to us, then we have that belief and that buzz to our performances.

"That is what he tries to do and we try and take it on board. It's a perfect combination."

Emery returned the compliment, saying: "He's a fantastic guy. A fantastic player. Because he loves football. He loves work."

But Emery revealed he had given Rogers a reality check at the interval in a bid to raise his game to even greater heights.

"At halftime I was not happy with him because I am ambitious myself. He scored a good goal but he was not performing very well," he said.

"We spoke about individually increasing our focus to get better and in the second half we did much better."

As Rogers knows better than most, Emery's relentless quest for perfection is the driving force behind Villa's bid for a title triumph.

AFP