Aston Villa found a way to win. It was not pretty and it was probably not deserved, but they pinched three precious points against Brighton.
A composed and controlled 2-0 win at Newcastle last month was arguably their best display of the campaign, coming after losing Boubacar Kamara for the season and seeing Youri Tielemans limp off at St James' Park.
Since then they have recovered from 2-0 down to beat Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League - a collapse from the Austrians rather than a rousing comeback - lost to 10-man Brentford and drawn at Bournemouth.
The level of performance from Emery's side has noticeably dropped - understandable given injuries to key players- but they have still got the job done.
Villa were poor, sloppy and lacked inspiration from the usual sources of Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins on Wednesday - but few would ever back against them digging out a win from virtually nothing.
In the race for the Champions League places, this victory was much needed, and supporters will not be debating the performance levels of mid-February in the summer if Villa return to Europe's elite next season.
They needed a win after recent results - having lost their previous two home league games - and they got it. Just.