Shaun Maloney rejoiced in his first Premiership goal which clinched Aston Villa's third straight away victory and left them within within touching distance of a top-half finish.
The Scotland international curled home a fine late goal at Manchester City which handed Villa their first taste of victory at the City of Manchester Stadium.
"I probably should have scored before, but it was nice to get my first goal and it was a big win for us," the former Celtic striker said.
"We really fancied it going into the game. I haven't really thought too much about the first goal, but I went close with a free-kick against Portsmouth and it was nice to get it out of the way."
Maloney was one of four players brought into the club in the January window, along with John Carew, who headed Villa into a deserved lead at Eastlands with his third goal, Ashley Young, who created it, and Phil Bardsley. But manager Martin O'Neill was quick to heap praise on Villa's Academy for the platform they have given him.
"One thing you realise in the Premiership is that you've got to have some people to choose from. Our squad was very, very small," he said.
"We tried, attempted and succeeded in strengthening it in January, not always the best time, but we needed it, and the players responded."
O'Neill knows that the likes of Gary Cahill, Luke Moore, Steven Davis, Liam Ridgewell and Gabriel Agbonlahor will be better for their experiences this season.
"We had a lot of young players in. Great news for the academy, maybe not so great news if you're playing massively big Premiership games every single time because you need one or two older heads, and we were struggling at that time," said the manager.
"But we've come out of that spell and I think we'll be better for it."
O'Neill felt Villa were full value for the win at City.
"I thought Manchester City were very bright to begin with and we had to weather that storm, but we've come out of that little spell, then we got in front, and I thought we played really well," he said.
"We were always dangerous and looked as if we might score a couple of goals. Obviously, the penalty before half-time was a major point in the game because they've missed it and it gives us a bit of extra hope and a bit more determination and vigour.
"I always think that we're a threat now going forward. It took us time to settle and it was maybe our second attack when we've got the goal. We'd been penned in by a very lively Manchester City side, but once we got the goal I thought we were in reasonable control."
