Unai Emery knew what he was getting when he signed Marco Asensio: a three-time Champions League winner, for starters, but a high-pedigree star capable of bending games to his will. Just as Emery was getting hot under the collar on another awkward night at Club Brugge, the Villa manager booked for voicing his frustrations pitchside, a rare moment of quality snatched this game away from the hosts.
The mere presence of Asensio and Ollie Watkins seemed to spook Brandon Mechele into diverting a superb cross from Morgan Rogers into his own net and then Christos Tzolis clumsily chopped down Matty Cash and Asensio sent the subsequent penalty past Simon Mignolet. The cold reality is Villa toiled despite a dream start on their return to Belgium but it is hard to argue a two-goal advantage is not a sizeable buffer before the second leg next Wednesday.
For Villa and Tyrone Mings this was a return to the scene of the crime. In the league-phase meeting between these sides in November, Mings gifted Brugge a penalty after inexplicably picking up the ball after failing to recognise Emiliano Martínez had restarted play with a goal-kick. Hans Vanaken scored the subsequent spot-kick, the only goal of the game.
No wonder, then, that the home supporters heartily cheered the inclusion of Mings in Villa’s starting lineup when the teams were read aloud for the first time before kick-off. With Andrés García ineligible and Cash deemed only fit enough for the bench, Emery again rejigged things in defence, with the Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi moving to right-back, allowing Ezri Konsa to partner Mings in the middle.
Given the freakish nature of defeat last time, a fast start was most welcome. Only 136 seconds into this match Villa stunned the dilapidated concrete jungle on the outskirts of beautiful Bruges. Mings, of course, was involved. He got above defender Joel Ordóñez to knock down a dinked Youri Tielemans free-kick and Leon Bailey arrived on to the ball in a flash, charging towards the penalty spot and stroking the ball in with a left-footed volley.
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Lille scored with their first shot on target in the 68th minute through Hakon Haraldsson (pictured) to earn a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund after Karim Adeyemi gave the hosts a half-time lead in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
The Germans, last year’s beaten finalists, were frustrated with the result after failing to extend their advantage in the opening period despite several chances.
They took their foot off the gas after the break to concede a deserved equaliser from the French side who waited patiently for their opportunity.
Dortmund needed some time to get into the game before Adeyemi fired them into a 22nd-minute lead with an unstoppable low drive that went in off the post.
Nico Schlotterbeck came close to a second goal in the 38th but his powerful shot narrowly missed the target. Pascal Gross did put the ball in the net from close range on the stroke of half-time but his effort was offside.
The Germans, who have struggled in the Bundesliga this season and are in 10th place and at risk of missing out on next season’s Champions League, eased off after the break.
Lille, who failed to break through a solid Dortmund backline for more than an hour, finally succeeded with a quick passing move as an off-balance Haraldsson beat goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. Haraldsson is only the second Icelandic player to score in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Despite some late pressure, Dortmund failed to carve out any clear chances and then had midfielder Daniel Svensson taken off with a suspected knee injury after Lille’s André Gomes stepped on his foot from behind.
“Tough game today and we did not show what we had set out to do,” said Adeyemi. “Now we have to do it at their stadium. We had wanted to keep a clean sheet and score as many as possible.” Reuters
Photograph: Martin Meissner/AP
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Mings presumably heard the pre‑match pantomime cheers and wagged his index finger in the direction of the ardent Brugge fans behind Mignolet’s goal. Still, surely Bailey’s easy strike would settle Villa down, prevent them from any silliness amid a potentially panicked search for an opener?
Tyrone Mings made a vital intervention at 1-1. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters
It all looked promising from a Villa perspective, the sporting revenge the captain, John McGinn, alluded to well within sight. The thing about November’s defeat was the bizarre error by Mings probably concealed how poor Villa were that night; it was tantamount to a no-show.
Emery has new toys now. Marcus Rashford, who started on the left flank, saw a shot blocked after drifting into the right channel following a neat give-and-go with Bailey. Rogers and Watkins almost combined with Brugge’s backline strewn high upfield. Then, into the 12th minute, Raphael Onyedika flipped a hopeful pass over the top of Disasi and the visitors unravelled. Tzolis drove at an uncomfortable Disasi and cut the ball back for Maxim De Cuyper who, unmarked, coolly rolled a clean but unremarkable shot into the far corner.
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It was too easy. Emery went berserk on the touchline as Tielemans surrendered possession cheaply on halfway. Tzolis had another go at Disasi but this time the Frenchman nicked the ball and – just about – came out on top. It did not seem a great coincidence that Cash, absent since Villa triumphed against Chelsea, was sent to warm up midway through the first half. Lucas Digne ran the ball out of play under routine pressure from Ferran Jutglà and soon after Martínez prevented Brugge seizing the lead, instinctively repelling Chemsdine Talbi’s effort at the back post.
To the same end Emery’s quadruple substitution shortly after the hour shed light on another pale performance. Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey and Asensio entered in place of Disasi, McGinn, Bailey and Rashford. By that point Onyedika sent a shot billowing towards Martínez and before that Mings made a much-needed intervention.
Asensio had four goals from his past three appearances, the double against Cardiff last Friday booking Villa’s FA Cup quarter-final spot, and he almost immediately added to his tally. The former Real Madrid forward forced Mignolet into a fine save after meeting Ramsey’s squared pass in the box before Cash skied the rebound.
Brugge flew up the other end on the counterattack and went close seconds later. Tzolis dug a cross towards the back post and Vanaken, left alone in the box, guided his header just past the far post, Mings throwing his body towards the goalline as a contingency. A few minutes later the lively Tzolis made a mess of a chance from the edge of the six-yard box after wriggling between Konsa and Cash. Brugge were punished for their profligacy.
