Villa beat Brugge in the Champions League. Dave Woodhall is enjoying it all.
Let’s just think if there’s anything to moan about. Not only is 5.45 a bugger of a kick-off time but it’s probably the only one that inconveniences the TV audience more than the travelling supporter.
If you’re at home chances are you’re either on your way back from work or doing something else but if you were over there it made a pleasant break in the non-stop drinkathon and gave plenty of time to go back after the match and paint the city centre claret and blue.
Unai picked a team that had plenty of attacking promise, with Axel Disasi at right-back and Boubacar Kamara on the bench if required. The only doubt was the presence of Leon Bailey, who surely didn’t deserve to start. Unai knows.
Two minutes in and Tyrone Mings’ header from a long free-kick was laid on for Bailey. Unai does indeed know. Then again, he might have had a fair idea what was coming ten minutes later, when Villa’s defence was once more far too easy to get through, for a Brugge equaliser.
The home side had most of the ball either side of half-time although they didn’t create much in the way of chances and when they did get near the Villa goal the best keeper in the world stopped everything as a matter of routine.
Midway through the second half we had another quadruple substitution, and amongst the new arrivals was three-times Champions League winner Marco Asensio, replacing Marcus Rashford. These truly are the days of which dreams are made.
Asensio had an immediate impact, setting up Jacob Ramsey for a chance which duly fell to Matty Cash, who should have done better. Then at the other end Mings made a spectacular goalline clearance while another Brugge chance went begging shortly afterwards.
As the game wore on the home side began to get on top and the presence of Kamara was proving vital in tightening the Villa defence. Then with eight minutes to go came one of those moments that can mean the difference between memorable success and eventual failure.
Morgan Rogers played in a ball for any one of three onrushing Villa forwards, none of who would have been able to hit it past the keeper as well as the defender who was attempting to mark all of them. 2-1 and that should have been enough to say job done but with a couple of minutes remaining Cash was brought down in the area and Asensio’s perfectly-placed penalty left Villa with one foot in the quarter-finals.
It was a great result, the best on the continent since another game in Belgium forty-three years ago. So many players put in huge performances – Mings was vindicated, Kamara showed once again what a difference he makes and Asensio did nothing more than can be expected from a world-class talent. We’re still a long way off but on a night like this you have to wonder if there might just be some mystical force in play that can overcome supposedly better opposition, just as it did all those years ago.
