Aston Villa secured a 2-1 win over Basel in the Europa League on Thursday night, with goals from Evann Guessand and Youri Tielemans sealing all three points.
It was Guessand who gave Villa the lead after 12 minutes with a smart finish into the corner, but after making a positive start to the game, we dropped our intensity levels and allowed the hosts back into the encounter.
They subsequently found an equaliser just after the half-hour mark, but as Unai Emery began to make changes and bring on his firepower off the bench, it was Tielemans who emerged as our match-winner with a wonderful strike from outside the box.
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That’s now 15 points from our opening six games in the Europa League, which in turn keeps us third in the standings and joint-top as we continue to move closer to securing a direct path to the knockout phase.
This was a difficult assignment given Basel’s quality and experience in Europe, but for the most part, it was a mature and encouraging performance from Villa with a number of key individuals getting a rest with Emery rotating and giving others a chance to impress.
Aston Villa player ratings vs Basel:
Marco Bizot, 6 – Will be disappointed that he didn’t do better to prevent the equaliser as got caught stranded trying to block the effort. Made some smart stops around that, but that was a crucial moment in the game.
Matty Cash, 6 – Steady shift as he defended well and played some dangerous passes to get us in down the right side. Replaced at half-time after picking up a booking as Emery opted to reshuffle his set-up.
Ezri Konsa, 7 – Villa’s skipper for the night put in a solid display. Got caught in possession which led to a threatening situation for the hosts in the second half, but was disciplined, composed and led the defensive line well.
Victor Lindelof, 7 – Did a good job filling in at the back as he carried out his defensive duties with minimal fuss. Dealt with danger effectively and was accurate playing out from the back when needed.
Lucas Digne, 7 – Got into advanced positions and linked up with Sancho effectively at times, but couldn’t quite get the delivery right to provide a bigger threat down the left flank. Defensively sound, a good outing for the Frenchman.
Lamare Bogarde, 7 – Villa’s Mr. Versatile produced another promising display as he carried out his job well in midfield before shifting to right-back for the second half. Still areas of his game that he needs to work on, but he’s showing more maturity and confidence in possession and defends diligently.
Amadou Onana, 7 – Imposed himself really effectively in the first part of the opening 45 minutes. His positioning and reading of the game was spot on and gave us a physical presence and drive in midfield going forward. Didn’t stay at that level throughout, but an important shift in the heart of the midfield.
Evann Guessand, 6.5 – The positive is that he took his goal really well as it was difficult to turn and find the corner of the net in that one motion. However, he’s still not providing us with enough quality consistently across the 90 minutes as he regularly ran into trouble and lost possession cheaply. His final ball or cross was off too, and so while he’ll be happy with his goal, there is still so much more in need of being improved.
Emiliano Buendia, 7.5 – Did really well to find pockets of space in central areas between the lines and link our play together to provide a threat in the final third. Perfectly laid off his pass to Tielemans for the winner, and although he was off with his passing at times too, he made an important contribution in the win.
Jadon Sancho, 6 – Can look tidy at times with his turn of pace, drop of the shoulder and desire to run at players, but it’s not consistent enough and it certainly isn’t decisive enough. Similarly to Guessand, the pair need to do more when given an opportunity, as there wasn’t enough quality shown on either flank in this game and that will become a problem against top opposition, and will give Emery a selection headache when wanting to rest others.
Donyell Malen, 6 – Showed good movement and intent to try and be more of a threat up top, but lacked the service to really make the difference. Decent shift for the team though from a defensive perspective with his pressing while leading the line.
Substitutes:
Youri Tielemans, 8 – Decisive contribution from our midfield maestro, as he produced a superb, controlled finish from the edge of the box to put us back ahead and ultimately sealed the win. Changes things when on the pitch with his intelligence and composure, and was great to see him pop up with a goal too.
Ollie Watkins, 5.5 – Struggled to get up to the speed of the game but gave us fresh legs in the attacking third from a defensive perspective as we tried to squeeze Basel and protect our lead.
Morgan Rogers, 5.5 – Similarly to Watkins, he didn’t really contribute too much after coming on but helped us get over the line.
Boubacar Kamara, 6 – Steadied things in midfield in the latter stages with his positioning and reading of the game, but much like the others on the bench, it was good to see him get a decent rest during a hectic period in our fixture schedule.
John McGinn, N/A