Club Brugge 1-3 Aston Villa: Late surge gives Emery´s side first leg lead

Brandon Mechele’s own-goal and Marco Asensio’s penalty handed Aston Villa a 3-1 lead over Club Brugge in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie.

Unai Emery’s side looked to be heading into the second leg at Villa Park next week all square until two goals in six minutes late on turned the game on its head.

A lightning start by Villa saw them take a third-minute lead, with Tyrone Mings’ headed knockdown from Youri Tielemans’ free-kick finished first time by Leon Bailey.

But their joy was short-lived, with a long ball over the top gathered by Christos Tzolis, who laid the ball back for Maxim De Cuyper to sweep beyond Emiliano Martinez.

Martinez was then forced to make a crucial save on the half-hour mark, diving low to his right-hand side to stop Chemsdine Talbi from giving Brugge the lead.

The hosts continued to pile on the pressure and went close after the break, only for Hans Vanaken to see his header brilliantly cleared off the line by Tyrone Mings.

Emery made three changes in the 64th minute to try and inject some pace into Villa’s play, with those substitutions eventually making the difference in the closing stages.

With eight minutes remaining, Morgan Rogers delivered a ball into the box that was sliced into his own net by Mechele, before another defensive error sealed the win.

After a loose touch inside the box, Tzolis stretched to try and win the ball back but clipped substitute Matty Cash, with Asensio stepping up to slot home the spot-kick.

Data Debrief: Super sub Asensio shines once again

Many were surprised to see Asensio not in the starting line-up after scoring both goals in Villa’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the FA Cup last time out, but the Spaniard continued to prove his worth for the Villans.

And it has been off the bench where Asensio has made his mark in the Champions League. He became the first player to reach double figures for goals as a substitute in the competition, with 10 of his 13 strikes coming when being introduced into the action.

Asensio has now scored five goals in his last four games in all competitions for Villa, while his goal against Brugge was his first Champions League goal since April 2023 for Real Madrid against Chelsea.