'It felt amazing’ – Chukwuemeka revels in ‘dream’ Aston Villa debut

Carney Chukwuemeka is thrilled to have made his Premier League debut as Aston Villa took on Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.

The English midfielder of Nigerian origin was introduced for Marvelous Nakamba in the 88th minute as Dean Smith’s men triumphed 2-1 in North London.

Steven Bergwijn had given the hosts an eighth-minute lead before the visiting side leveled matters courtesy of an own goal by Sergio Reguilon.

Six minutes before the half-time break, Ollie Watkins scored the winner as the Lions picked up their ninth away win of the 2020-21 campaign.

The 17-year-old described his maiden appearance in the English top-flight as the ‘proudest moment of his career'.

“It felt amazing,” Chukwuemeka was quoted by Aston Villa website.

“It’s every young footballer’s dream to make their Premier League debut and for me to do it was just a dream come true. It’s the proudest moment of my career so far.”

The teenager almost capped his debut with a notable goal, however, his low strike from the edge of the penalty area rebounded off the foot of the Spurs post.

“As soon as the opportunity fell to me, I just thought ‘let me hit it and try my luck’,” he continued.

“Unluckily it hit the post, so next time maybe…”

Meanwhile, manager Smith is excited with the performance of his team against Ryan Mason’s side – lauding his players’ ‘attitude’ as well as ‘quality’.

“I’m massively chuffed with the performance, the work rate, the attitude and the quality as well,” he said.

“We’ve had some performances like this throughout the season, Arsenal away, Liverpool at home…

“But there were a few questions thrown because it has been, and I can’t get away from it, it’s been an inconsistent second half of the season.

“But we’ve been missing our best player as well, in Jack Grealish.

“But I think, I believe, our first XI can go and compete with anyone and because it’s our second season, we will get stronger next season as well; these players are getting better and better.”

Aston Villa occupy the 11th spot in the English elite division log having accrued 52 points from 37 outings. They host Chelsea on the last day of the season.

For Chukwuemeka, he will be looking to cap a memorable season by helping Villa’s Young Lions lift the FA Youth Cup Final on Monday against Liverpool.