Young Boys vs Aston Villa LIVE: Champions League result and reaction as dominant Villa triumph in Bern
Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa: Unai Emery’s men excelled on their Champions League debut
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Your support makes all the difference.Aston Villa made a glorious return to the European flight with a wonderful 3-0 victory against Young Boys in Switzerland.
Playing at the Stadion Wankdorf on an artificial pitch there were come concerns that Villa wouldn’t adapt to the conditions and for the opening 20 minutes the hosts were the better side. Unai Emery’s team did click though and took the lead from a fine set piece.
John McGinn received a short corner and swung a cross over to Youri Tielemans. He controlled it and drilled a low finish into the back of the net for Aston Villa’s first ever Champions League goal.
Two more followed, Jacob Ramsey making the most of a defensive mishap to add a second before Amadou Onana added a third late in the game. It could have been even better for the visitors as Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran, brought into the match as a substitute, both had goals disallowed.
It was a perfect night for the midlands club and they’ll now be determined to reach the knockout rounds.
Relive the Champions League action with our live blog below:
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
24 mins: Nearly!
A simple long ball comes up to Ollie Watkins who spins in behind the defence then cushions a header down into the path of John McGinn.
McGinn takes a touch then fizzes off a shot which flies agonisingly wide of the left-hand post.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
22 mins: Ugrinic has been decent at delivering set pieces into the box and he is again with a free kick over on the left wing. He whips it towards goal but an early move frmo Emi Martinez sees the goalkeeper punch it away.
Young Boys collect the ball and work it across to Ebrima Colley. Colley cuts onto his right foot and curls shot at goal, landing it on the roof of the net.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
19 mins: Oh!
Silvere Ganvoula makes a fine run down the left before feeding Jaouen Hadjam into the box. He makes a twisting, spinning run past the defence before getting brought down following a Pau Torres block.
The referee sees nothing wrong with the tackle and waves for play to continue.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
16 mins: Over on TNT Sports commentary Ally McCoist believes the artificial pitch may be playing its part in the game already and he says Villa’s player look to be taking ‘the slightest half a second longer’ to control and play the ball which is giving the hosts time to close them down.
Zavhary Athekame makes his presence known against Jacob Ramsey. He grabs the forward’s shoulder and drags him to ground but escapes punishment.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
13 mins: Save! Ebrima Colley receives the ball on the left wing and plays a pass into the penalty area for Cheikh Niasse. He holds the ball up then rolls it back to Colley who smokes a low effort at goal.
Emi Martinez drops low and keeps the ball out before Filip Ugrinic drills a follow up effort wide of the target!
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
12 mins: The home side are starting to take control of this game and have managed to peg Aston Villa into their own half. Another ball into the penalty area is flapped at by Emi Martinez who only knocks it into the danger zone in front of him.
Luckily a Villa defender, Lamare Bogarde by the looks of it, gets to the loose ball first and hooks it clear.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
9 mins: Youri Tielemans is penalised for a lunging tackle which clips Silvere Ganvoula who drops to the deck. It’s a free kick in a dangerous area for the visitors.
Filip Ugrinic takes the set piece, whips the ball around the wall but sends it straight into the waiting hands of Emi Martinez.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
6 mins: A quick break from Villa sees Morgan Rogers drive the ball up the pitch before slipping a pass to Jacob Ramsey on his left. Ramsey dribbles up to the box and pokes the ball back to Rogers.
He looks to check to the right and open up space for a shot but gets tackled and Young Boys come away with possession.
Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
3 mins: John McGinn pushes forward on the right side of the pitch and piles the pressure on Jaoven Hadjam. The defender toes the ball out for a throw in but Villa fail to capitalise on the field position and send it back to their own defence.
They look to build out from the back whilst getting a feel for the astroturf pitch.
Kick off! Young Boys 0-0 Aston Villa
The hosts kick off the match and boot the ball long over to the right. Joel Monteiro is the target but it sails well over his head and skips through for a goal kick.
Aston Villa then come forward quickly and win themselves a throw in on the left wing.
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