Within the playground of the wealthy and well-known, Aston Villa left Monaco counting the price of a sluggish begin. Prince William and the Villa co-owner, Nassef Sawiris, whose superyacht wouldn’t look misplaced not far away at Port Hercules, had been amongst these in attendance. Villa roused however by no means really recovered from Wilfried Singo’s early headed purpose and their hopes of mechanically qualifying for the final 16 will go all the way down to the wire when Celtic go to subsequent week.
An hour earlier than kick-off Unai Emery was serenaded by the Villa supporters stationed beneath the long-lasting arches of this stadium on the French Riviera however this was a uncommon evening when his facet fell flat, a mirror-image of their consequence at Membership Brugge in November and reminiscent, too, of that pale efficiency.
Emery handed Emi Buendía a shock begin, his first since a Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October, and solely third of the season in all competitions. Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey additionally returned to the beginning lineup however the latter was ineffective and withdrawn 11 minutes into the second half, with Jhon Durán getting into in quest of a Villa equaliser. Bailey was not the one one who struggled, although Villa did stir after going behind on eight minutes.
Takumi Minamino intercepted Tyrone Mings’s free go out from defence, forcing Ezri Konsa to make a block and Monaco struck from Lamine Camara’s subsequent nook. Emiliano Martínez, whose each contact was jeered by the locals for his World Cup closing antics in opposition to France in Qatar, repelled Thilo Kehrer’s preliminary header however was powerless to forestall Songo heading in near the goalline. A couple of minutes later Martínez made a sensible save to forestall Maghnes Akliouche’s first-time effort fizzing into the highest nook after the ahead met Eliesse Ben Seghir’s squared go.
It was Bailey who had Villa’s first effort of word, off-balance forcing Radoslaw Majecki right into a save. Buendía rolled the ball into Bailey and, falling, he bought a left-foot shot away which was pawed over by the Monaco goalkeeper. Buendía was a vivid spark for Villa. He squeezed a go by means of beneath stress for Ollie Watkins within the closing minute of first-half stoppage time, however Majecki bought a powerful proper glove to it. Monaco ought to have doubled their lead with the ultimate part of the primary half however the energetic Akliouche scooped his shot over on the finish of a swift counterattack.
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Villa completed the primary interval brightly however the introduction of Durán, who shaped a lesser-spotted partnership with Watkins in assault, failed to extend the workload for the Monaco defence. Morgan Rogers despatched a shot large early within the second half and Matty Money despatched a snug header at Majecki from Digne’s hanging cross. However one of the best alternative was missed by Monaco. After latching on to a neat Akliouche by means of ball, Takumi Minamino selfishly went in pursuit of purpose when he had Breel Embolo free to his left. It was Villa, although, who left questioning what may need been.
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