Aston Villa’s perfect Champions League start came to an end after a bizarre penalty award saw Club Brugge beat the Premier League side 1-0.
Referee Robias Stieler pointed to the spot after Tyrone Mings, making his debut in the competition, was caught unawares, picking up an Emi Martinez pass inside his own area.
Hans Vanaken stepped up to convert from the spot and end his side’s 14-game run without victory against English opposition.
The penalty decision followed an underwhelming first half from Villa, who were subject to an onslaught from the Belgian champions. Brugge had seen an effort from Vanaken pushed onto the post before Martinez reacted quickly to the follow-up to keep out the ball in what was a busy first 45 minutes for the goalkeeper.
Despite Villa dominating the early possession statistics, Brugge had dominated the chances, with Unai Emery’s Villans only managing a single effort on target before the interval compared to five from the home side.
The only opportunities for Villa before the break came as John McGinn headed over a Boubacar Kamara cross from close range and a wayward strike from the edge of the Brugge area from Ollie Watkins whistled wide.
Emery called on intervention from the bench with Jhon Duran introduced hoping to add to his tally of two vital goals in the competition thus far but the striker failed to make an impact.
Defeat for Villa means Liverpool remain the only side with a 100-per-cent record in the competition. Emery’s side have now gone four consecutive games without victory in all competitions, losing all of their last three.
Are problems brewing for Emery’s Villa?
Unai Emery oversaw defeat to Brugge on the day that marked two years since his first game in charge
Villa’s defeat at Club Brugge marked the anniversary of Emery’s first match in charge two years ago. His first Villa game saw him comprehensively beat Manchester United in a performance that was driven by a rampant Villa Park atmosphere. Villa’s showing two years on was a far cry from that.
The freak penalty decision that fed into a nightmare Champions League debut for Mings will dominate the headlines but Villa were outfought by Brugge throughout the 90 minutes. There was a predictability about Villa’s display, runs were reluctant and the Belgian champions were mostly comfortable.
It is a third loss on the spin for Emery’s side and he is at risk of letting some of the solid foundations he has built over the course of the last 24 months unravel. Villa’s display during their Carabao Cup defeat against Crystal Palace, while disappointing, could have been tolerable had they not turned up at Tottenham and underwhelmed once again.
Their first campaign in Europe for over 40 years comes with very little expectation and they exceeded anyone’s predictions by being top of the competition in the first place, but the worry for Emery will be the manner of their recent run of defeats.
Emery: The mistake changed everything
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to TNT Sports:
“We played a very good first half. We created chances but didn’t score. We conceded one chance from them. The match was more or less under our control. In the second half the mistake changed everything.
“Playing against them, they were defensively strong and very focused in playing in their idea to stop us and play in transition [where] they were better than us. But the key was the first half and the mistake we made.”