Aston Villa suffered a Europa League humbling as they were beaten by the Dutch minnows Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer. Unai Emery’s side looked on course to extend their winning streak to six matches in all competitions when they went ahead in the fourth minute through Evann Guessand. They missed a host of chances to finish the game, though, and came unstuck as goals from Mathis Suray and Mats Deijl either side of half-time gave Go Ahead Eagles a famous victory in one of the biggest games in their history.
This was an unexpected blip in Villa’s quest to finish in the top eight of the league phase as Emery plots a fifth Europa League title, and after Emiliano Buendía missed a penalty late on to get his side back on level terms the head coach lamented that his side must be more clinical from the spot. It was also a disappointing night for Jadon Sancho, who failed to make a telling impact on the second start since his loan move from Manchester United and was withdrawn in the second half.
Villa, who face an in-form Manchester City on Sunday, should still have enough to make it through the league phase of the competition, though their next match is against Maccabi Tel-Aviv in what has become a hugely politicised fixture.
Go Ahead Eagles are a provincial club based 60 miles east of Amsterdam and were playing in the Dutch second tier as recently as 2021. The atmosphere in the 10,000-capacity De Adelaarshorst was raucous at the start of the match but Villa needed only minutes to quieten them down.
Buendía fed Sancho down the left and his cross was clawed away by the home goalkeeper Jari De Busser, but only into the path of Guessand, who slotted into an empty net. It was his first goal in a Villa shirt following his £25m summer move from Nice.
Villa could have been out of sight with only 10 minutes on the clock but Ollie Watkins spurned a glorious chance after shooting straight at De Busser, who also saved Sancho’s shot following a jinking run into the penalty area.
The visitors should definitely have been further ahead just before the half hour when Buendía played Guessand through on goal but the French forward dallied and saw De Busser block his effort.
Emery’s side were in total control but were pegged back out of the blue before half-time. The Villa defence were unable to deal with a floated free-kick and the ball fell to Suray, whose shot took a huge deflection and looped into the top corner.
The turnaround was complete 15 minutes into the second half as Deijl controlled Joris Kramer’s cross with his chest and the captain poked the ball past Emiliano Martínez.
after newsletter promotion
Villa threw on Morgan Rogers, Donyell Malen and John McGinn in a bid to get back into the game and Rogers crashed a cross-shot on to the woodwork. They were handed the perfect chance to level in the 77th minute when Dean James handled in the area. However, with the wind and rain swirling, Buendía skied his penalty. Rogers curled a shot inches wide but a late rally was never on the cards and there was a post-match firework display as Go Ahead Eagles celebrated a memorable win.
Buendía’s was Villa’s sixth missed penalty in the last 12 months, with Ollie Watkins missing against Bologna this season, while they also lost a penalty shootout to Brentford in the Carabao Cup last month. Emery said: “Today the responsibility was for Emiliano Buendia. And normally he has good numbers shooting penalties, but he missed. Of course, something can happen, and we will try to get more clinical in the penalty shoot than the last penalties we have had.
“Our takers are clear. Buendia was today, Sancho, John McGinn, Morgan as well can shoot penalties. And, of course, Emiliano can repeat, but the idea is try to be so, so responsible about the decision and about the takers who can score.”
Go Ahead Eagles had qualified by winning the Dutch Cup last season and this was another huge result. Deijl explained the historic nature of the win. “I think the last few years we’ve had a lot of big wins, the big one was, of course, the cup final,” the match-winner said. “I think everyone expected us to have a really hard time in Europe, and I don’t think anyone expected from us to do it like this. So we’re very happy. And of course, this might be the biggest win so far for this club here.”
