If you squinted hard enough beyond the brutalist boundaries of this stadium, the redemption arc was visible. For Aston Villa and Tyrone Mings this was a return to the scene of the crime.
It was here in November where Mings gifted Club Brugge a penalty after inexplicably picking up the ball from a goal-kick, but this time his biggest intervention was an improbable goalline clearance to prevent a Hans Vanaken header from nestling in Emiliano Martínez’s net and the Belgian champions from assuming control. The cold reality is Villa toiled despite a dream start on their return to Belgium but it is hard to argue a two-goal advantage is not a significant buffer before the second leg next Wednesday.
Unai Emery acknowledged later that Mings was the good guy this time, Villa’s saviour. Twenty minutes after he somehow contorted his left boot to stop Vanaken’s header from inside the six-yard box dropping in, Villa were basking in a 3-1 victory that puts them in a commanding position to reach the Champions League quarter-finals, where either Liverpool or Paris Saint‑Germain await. The Brugge defender Brandon Mechele, seemingly wary of Ollie Watkins and Marco Asensio lurking in the box, inadvertently diverted Morgan Rogers’s teasing cross past Simon Mignolet and by the end Asensio had added his fifth goal in four games, scoring a penalty after Christos Tzolis chopped down Matty Cash.
Emery knew what he was getting when he signed Asensio: a three‑time Champions League winner, for starters, but also a high-pedigree star capable of bending games to his will. Just as Emery was getting hot under the collar on another awkward night in Brugge, the Villa manager booked for voicing his frustrations pitchside, a rare moment of quality snatched this game away from the hosts. Rogers’s cross was tricky and the mere presence of Asensio and Watkins spooked Mechele.
The locals had not forgotten Mings’s faux pas in the league phase, when Vanaken scored the only goal from the spot. The home supporters cheered Mings’s name when the teams were read aloud before kick‑off and the Villa defender seemingly made a mental note. Only 136 seconds into this match Villa stunned the hosts to take the lead. Mings, of course, was involved. He got above the defender Joel Ordóñez to knock down a dinked Youri Tielemans free-kick and Leon Bailey arrived on to the ball like a flash, charging towards the penalty spot and stroking the ball in with his left foot on the half-volley. Mings could not resist wagging his index finger at the ardent Brugge fans behind the goal. After a freakish defeat last time, this was the fast start they craved.
Villa looked primed to build but Brugge responded on 12 minutes, Maxim De Cuyper rolling in an equaliser after Tzolis drove at Axel Disasi, who started at right-back. Martínez then saved well from an unmarked Chemsdine Talbi after the half-hour mark but it was Mings who stopped Brugge from seizing the lead.
“We needed our goalkeeper, we needed Tyrone’s ‘save’,” Emery said. “We can remember the match we played before here with Tyrone. This time he saved a [goal with a] really important action. The first experience he had here was not good but today he reacted fantastically. He was focused, serious – saving one action that was a goal. I know the difficulties and how we have these experiences. And we have corrected something from the last match we played here.”
Emery’s quadruple substitution shortly after the hour spoke to another pale performance. Cash, Boubacar Kamara, Jacob Ramsey and Asensio entered in place of Disasi, John McGinn, Bailey and Marcus Rashford, who started off the left flank. By that point Raphael Onyedika had sent a shot billowing towards Martínez and, before that, Mings had made an early second-half intervention.
Lille scored with their first shot on target in the 68th minute through Hakon Haraldsson (pictured) to earn a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund after Karim Adeyemi gave the hosts a half-time lead in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.
The Germans, last year's beaten finalists, were frustrated with the result after failing to extend their advantage in the opening period despite several chances.
They took their foot off the gas after the break to concede a deserved equaliser from the French side who waited patiently for their opportunity.
Dortmund needed some time to get into the game before Adeyemi fired them into a 22nd-minute lead with an unstoppable low drive that went in off the post.
Nico Schlotterbeck came close to a second goal in the 38th but his powerful shot narrowly missed the target. Pascal Gross did put the ball in the net from close range on the stroke of half-time but his effort was offside.
The Germans, who have struggled in the Bundesliga this season and are in 10th place and at risk of missing out on next season's Champions League, eased off after the break.
Lille, who failed to break through a solid Dortmund backline for more than an hour, finally succeeded with a quick passing move as an off-balance Haraldsson beat goalkeeper Gregor Kobel. Haraldsson is only the second Icelandic player to score in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Despite some late pressure, Dortmund failed to carve out any clear chances and then had midfielder Daniel Svensson taken off with a suspected knee injury after Lille's André Gomes stepped on his foot from behind.
"Tough game today and we did not show what we had set out to do," said Adeyemi. "Now we have to do it at their stadium. We had wanted to keep a clean sheet and score as many as possible." Reuters
Asensio had four goals across his previous three appearances, the double against Cardiff last Friday booking Villa’s FA Cup quarter-final spot, and he almost immediately added to his tally. Brugge flew up the other end on the counterattack and went close through Vanaken, only for Mings to stagger towards the Villa goal to divert the ball’s course. A few minutes later the lively Tzolis made a mess of a chance himself from the edge of the six‑yard box after wriggling between Ezri Konsa and Cash. Brugge would be punished for their profligacy.
Emery highlighted how Brugge scored three goals in Bergamo to overpower Atalanta in the playoff round but regardless Villa are in the box seat. For Villa, it is now six wins from nine Champions League matches, a fine return back at this level. “We are not in the quarter-final,” insisted Villa’s manager. “There is still 90 minutes to play and we’re ready in case we need extra time and penalties. I know how difficult each match is and how one match can change in 90 minutes. I’m sure the players have experiences of matches like that and we have always to respect our opponent.”
