A late brace gave Aston Villa the upper hand going into the second leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with Club Brugge, as they won 3-1 in Belgium, marking only their third victory in 13 away games.
The Villans had lost 1-0 in the league phase here in November and failed to score, but this time they stunned the home crowd with a goal in less than three minutes. Tyrone Mings made up for his mistake in the previous loss by heading a Youri Tielemans free kick back into the box, where Leon Bailey arrived to slot home a half-volley into the bottom-left corner. Villa quickly pushed for a second, but, despite having only one clean sheet in their last 15 competitive away games, they couldn’t hold on for long. Christos Tzolis flicked a long ball to Maxim De Cuyper, who calmly placed it into the far corner.
The home side grew more lively after the equaliser, and Chemsdine Talbi forced Emiliano Martínez into a reflex save from close range. Brugge kept the pressure on, dominating possession, but they couldn’t score before half-time. The second half began with little action, apart from a long-range effort from Raphael Onyedika, which Martínez easily saved.
However, a quadruple substitution for Villa brought new energy and created chances at both ends. Marco Asensio scored for the visitors, while Hans Vanaken’s header was cleared off the line by Mings in a brilliant defensive effort. Tzolis then fired over the bar after a pass from Vanaken. But things then started to fall apart for Brugge. Morgan Rogers delivered a perfect cross from the right, which could have found Ollie Watkins, but Brandon Mechele mistakenly diverted the ball into his own net.
With just minutes remaining, Villa were awarded a penalty when Tzolis fouled Matty Cash in the box. Asensio converted confidently, scoring his fifth goal in four appearances for Villa. Given their strong record of only one loss in their last 22 competitive home games, which includes all four of their league-phase matches, Villa are confident of progressing to the quarter-finals. Brugge, on the other hand, will need to repeat their impressive 3-1 away win over Atalanta when they travel to Birmingham next week.
