Aston Villa secured a stunning 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week, as our remarkable start to our European campaign continued on a memorable night at Villa Park.
Jhon Duran’s second-half goal sealed the three points against the Bundesliga giants, as Villa made it consecutive wins to start the competition after defeating Young Boys last month.
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Given the magnitude of the occasion and game though, this was a brilliant result on a raucous night at Villa Park, as Unai Emery and the players delivered on all the pre-match hype and build-up given the historical context of this fixture and what it means to us.
While every player deserves credit for the performance that they put in, this is now the standard for us to meet in this competition, as we set our sights on trying to qualify for the knockout stage automatically with a top-eight finish.
Disciplined Villa led by brilliant Emery gameplan
Understandably, it was a nervy start from Villa as Bayern dominated possession and put us under early pressure. However, we stayed disciplined, organised and fully focused to stay in the game, thus allowing ourselves time to settle and eventually grow into it.
That starts with Emery’s preparation and gameplan for Vincent Kompany’s side, and it worked so efficiently as we were able to limit their threat in wide areas and frustrate them for large periods despite their superior possession, while posing a threat of our own on the counter-attack, particularly with Ollie Watkins in his battle with Dayot Upamecano.
The Villa boss continues to show his class time and time again, putting the players in the best possible position to come away with memorable wins like this one.
Emi Martinez the hero with key saves
That said, we still relied on key individuals stepping up and producing decisive moments at both ends of the pitch. Emiliano Martinez was superb throughout as he made a string of vital saves to protect our clean sheet and ultimately help secure the win.
The Argentine shot-stopper thrives off these big games and the responsibility that comes with them, and he was at his best again with stunning one-v-one saves from close range to keep Bayern at bay.
In addition, his organisation of the backline, leadership and winning mentality all help this side in games like this, having experienced huge games at international level.
Defensive standard set with superb backline display
It’s fair to say that Villa haven’t been good enough defensively to start the season in the Premier League, having conceded nine goals in our opening six games.
Emery though stuck to his guns and kept Ezri Konsa at right-back and continued with Diego Carlos at centre-half despite the Brazilian’s mistakes costing us in the last two games.
He got the exact reaction he wanted too, as we produced a simply outstanding defensive performance in this one. As noted above, the level of discipline and organisation from the team as a whole was excellent, but the work ethic and mental strength to stay switched on throughout made this a deserved win.
Philogene delivers after faith shown by Emery
It was a big call and somewhat of a surprise to see Jaden Philogene named in the Villa XI, but evidently Emery saw him as a better fit for the game and in how he wanted to deal with the opposition.
Despite having to show his versatility and switch flanks, Philogene repaid that faith with a top shift as although he was limited in an attacking sense, he worked tirelessly to help provide defensive cover for our full-backs.
At just 22 years of age, it was a big night for him and a major step up, but he kept his composure, stayed locked in to the instructions given to him by Emery, and played a pivotal role in our win.
Duran the man of the moment once again
That’s now six goals in nine appearances so far this season for Jhon Duran, five of which have proven to be decisive winning goals as the 20-year-old has come back a different player after a contentious summer.
Emery and his teammates have all been singing his praises in recent weeks for the change in attitude and mentality that he’s shown, and he continues to deliver pivotal moments to help make this a successful run to start the campaign.
While it was a wonderful pass from Pau Torres to set him on his way, Duran’s instincts and execution of his lobbed effort over Manuel Neuer was sensational, and it just added to the occasion that we scored a top, top goal to win it.
