Champions League: Young Boys 0 Aston Villa 3
An hour before kick-off the few hundred Aston Villa supporters already in place for the game cheered the first rendition of the Champions League anthem over the speakers and their mood was similarly jubilant after watching their team record a comprehensive victory in their first assignment. It was fitting that Jacob Ramsey, who joined Villa’s academy at six years old, got on the scoresheet as the travelling supporters sang the name of the late 1982 European Cup winner Gary Shaw from start to finish. Ramsey’s strike, scored in comical circumstances, was book ended by fine strikes from the Belgium pair Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana, the latter registering his third goal of the season.
The game was not uneventful with the substitute Jhon Durán booked for inciting the most ardent Young Boys supporters stationed behind one end of this stadium after thinking he extended his impressive goalscoring run to make it 3-0. Durán rolled the ball home and then promptly riled the home fans by jumping on to the digital advertising hoardings and screaming with joy. The locals took a dim view of Durán’s antics and the striker was left red-faced when his goal was ruled out a couple of minutes later.
On the eve of the game, Tielemans said he felt the buzz among Villa supporters, so he was well versed on how his goal would have been received from Berne to Birmingham and beyond. Lucas Digne rolled a corner to John McGinn, whose curling cross picked out an isolated Tielemans. The midfielder brought the ball under his spell before dispatching a low shot into the corner. Villa’s set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee, roared with delight on the edge of the Villa technical area.
Villa had barely threatened until that point, aside from McGinn thrashing a chance wide minutes earlier and it was the Villa goalkeeper, Emiliano Martínez, who made the first meaningful save a dozen minutes in, denying Ebrima Colley before Filip Ugrinic sent another effort wide. Villa were slow to settle with the zip of the synthetic surface, Ramsey changing his boots after 18 minutes. Morgan Rogers glared at his stud plates in frustration and Pau Torres overcooked a simple pass.
Tielemans’s strike gave Villa a leg-up and from there they dominated. Rogers freed Ollie Watkins but the Villa striker, with yellow shirts breathing down his neck, screwed a scruffy shot wide. Then Cheikh Niasse manhandled a rampaging Onana, earning a booking in the process.
If Villa’s first was a slick training-ground move, the second stemmed was a tragicomedy from a Young Boys perspective. Banhie Zoukrou cleared Rogers’s pass meant for Watkins but Mohamed Ali Camara dawdled in the box and then passed the ball back to his goalkeeper, David von Ballmoos, who did not spy Watkins in his peripheral vision and promptly wiped him out. It would have been a certain penalty but Ramsey picked up the pieces, taking a touch before slotting in Villa’s second. The travelling support proudly chanted Shaw’s name that little bit louder. “When he get’s the ball he’s bound to score, Gary, Gary Shaw,” they sang on repeat.
Watkins wheeled away in celebration under the impression he had made it 3-0 on 43 minutes but his goal was disallowed for a bizarre handball decision. It was almost as if the video assistant referee, Willy Delajod, had sympathy for Young Boys, who flipped from giving Villa a rough ride to a meek surrender in double-quick time. Watkins’s initial effort on the spin was blocked by the full-back Zachary Athekame but his second flew high into the net, supposedly with a helping hand.
The second half was in danger of passing without much note. Diego Carlos replaced Lamare Bogarde at the interval, with Unai Emery shifting Ezri Konsa to right-back. Durán then replaced Watkins on the hour, the latter noticeably unhappy at being withdrawn. Ramsey saw a stinging shot pushed over by Von Ballmoos and up the other end Silvère Ganvoula forced Martínez into a two-handed but ultimately comfortable stop.
Then for the real drama, Durán sweeping home a slick move only for another Villa goal to be chalked off for handball. The referee, Georgi Kabakov, initially waved play on when Onana appeared to handle on halfway but after a VAR check later ruled the goal out. Only after Durán made a brainless decision to celebrate wildly in front of a teeming Young Boys end. Onana eventually made it 3-0 with a low, hammered strike from distance. – Guardian
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