Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat at Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, after a farcical penalty gifted the hosts the winning goal.
Although Villa settled well in the early stages to get a foothold and put ourselves in a position to go on and win the game, that inability to go through the gears as the encounter went on became a problem again.
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With a lack of quality, energy, intensity and aggression, the home side deserved their win regardless of the manner in which they got their winner, albeit Tyrone Mings will want to forget the incident as quickly as possible.
In a shambolic mistake, the Villa centre-half picked up the ball after Emiliano Martinez’s goal kick as if he were resetting the start of play again, and Brugge converted the subsequent penalty to end our perfect start to our Champions League campaign.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Club Brugge:
Emiliano Martinez, 7 – Excellent throughout as he produced a number of important saves to keep it goalless before eventually being beaten from the penalty spot.
Ezri Konsa, 6 – Solid shift as he was asked to play at right-back again, and while his individual statistics tell a story of an efficient display, doubts persist over whether or not shifting him across is the best thing for the team as a whole.
Diego Carlos, 6 – Good defensive performance for the most part but having had the most touches of any Villa player as he was given time and space to build out from the back, didn’t utilise that possession effectively enough.
Tyrone Mings, 5 – Was looking assured in his Champions League debut, but ultimately undid that good work in that farcical sequence which led to Brugge being awarded their penalty to win the game.
Ian Maatsen, 6 – Energetic and played with intent as he defended well and got forward down the left flank at every opportunity, but was missing an end product to make a decisive impact.
Boubacar Kamara, 6.5 – Another important shift as he gets back to prime condition and form, and it was a tidy display with good defensive work throughout. Still not quite up to speed as he looks a little off the pace in his tracking and interventions, but another step in the right direction.
Youri Tielemans, 5.5 – Going through a tough patch at the moment, as he’s being marked and stifled more effectively by the opposition. Couldn’t have his usual influence and was increasingly sloppy with his distribution as the game went on before Villa lost our sense of control on the game.
Leon Bailey, 5.5 – His struggles continue as although he pressed and worked hard out of possession, he still can’t make a decisive impact in the final third and that threat down the right wing is sorely missed.
Morgan Rogers, 5.5 – Had a couple of efforts on goal but the decision to shift him across to the left side didn’t really work as it took away his ability to find central pockets of space and drive forward with the ball. A quiet night compared to his usual influence.
John McGinn, 5 – Didn’t have much of an impact, if any, on the game as a whole, as he squandered a big chance in the first half before gradually becoming less effective and less involved before coming off.
Ollie Watkins, 5 – Similarly to McGinn, he couldn’t convert a good chance in the opening 45 minutes as his effort trickled just wide, and that was about as good as it got for him. Starved of service and without enough movement to get involved, it was a frustrating night for him.
Substitutes:
Jhon Duran, 5 – Couldn’t have the desired impact in the latter stages as Villa didn’t really create anything for him to get on the end of.
Jacob Ramsey, 5 – Had an impact on our general play, but didn’t make much of a difference in the final third to help us find a breakthrough.
Pau Torres, 6 – Used the ball smartly to help us retain possession and build out from the back, but that had a limited impact in terms of finding a way back into the game.
Emiliano Buendia, N/A
Kosta Nedeljkovic, N/A
