Aston Villa 2 AZ Alkmaar 1 - Report
Rarely can so bad a miss have been so beneficial.
With Villa a goal down to AZ Alkmaar in last night’s Europa Conference League tie, Boubacar Kamara skied his shot so horribly from six yards out the officials were fooled into thinking it was a defensive clearance.
Diego Carlos promptly headed home his first Villa goal from the wrongly awarded corner to cancel out Vangelis Pavlidis’ opener and Unai Emery’s team went on to win thanks to Ollie Watkins’ 10th goal of the season.
After a week dominated by talk of VAR, it was an old-fashioned refereeing error by Portugal’s Luis Godinho and his assistant which helped get Villa back on terms and on the brink of qualifying for the knockout stages.
The visit of Legia Warsaw later this month is a virtual play-off for top spot in Group E. Villa, beaten 3-2 in Poland on the competition’s opening night, will know not to take it lightly having been given another scare here by an Alkmaar team transformed from the outfit they had comfortably dispatched in Holland a fortnight previously.
Ezri Konsa, shifted to right back in a reshuffled backline as Emery made four changes, saw a shot blocked and from the corner Villa thought they had taken the lead.
Clement Lenglet, restored to the team for the first time since the win in Holland, headed home Leon Bailey’s cross after Pavlidis had brilliantly cleared Watkins’ header off the line. But after a lengthy check the goal was ruled out by VAR with Bailey having failed to get back onside before Watkins had delivered the initial cross.
The hosts were on top and only the fingertips of goalkeeper Mat Ryan prevented a low Youri Tielemans drive from finding the bottom corner.
But the visitors also carried a threat. Pavlidis came close to catching Emi Martinez off his line with a speculative effort from 40 yards which dropped just wide, before then squandering a much clearer chance when he arrived to meet Ibrahim Sadiq’s wicked cross.
It was Alkmaar who actually finished a half which had rather fizzled from its early promise the stronger. Martinez denied Pavlidis after Lenglet lost possession with Yukinari Sugawara then lashing an effort just wide from distance.
Villa failed to heed the warning and seven minutes into the second half the visitors led. Riecheldy Bazoer sent a ball over the top and Pavlidis timed his run just right to beat the offside trap, dinking a finish over Martinez.
The hosts looked rattled and it required some fortune for them to get back on level terms. Digne crossed from the left and Kamara skied his shot so badly from six yards out the officials presumed Martins Indi must have got a touch. Carlos headed home Bailey’s inswinger, VAR powerless to intervene.
Emery introduced Nicolo Zaniolo and the Italian tested Ryan with an effort from distance. But it was the addition of Douglas Luiz which proved crucial as, a day after Emery claimed he should be setting up more goals, he delivered the pinpoint cross from which Watkins powered home a header.
Teams
Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Konsa (Cash 74), Carlos (Torres 90), Lenglet, Digne, McGinn, Kamara, Tielemans (Luiz 74), Bailey (Traore 90), Diaby (Zaniolo 74), Watkins Subs not used: Moreno, Chambers, Duran, Dendoncker, Olsen (gk), Marschall (gk).
AZ Alkmaar (4-3-3): Ryan, Sugawara, Bazoer, Martins Indi, Wolfe, Clasie (Odgaard 89), De Wit (Mihailovic 69), Mijnans (Dantas 89), Sadiq (Poku 69), Pavlidis, Van Bommel (Van Brederode 69) Subs not used: Penetra, Dekker, Goudmijn, Kasius, Goes, Verhulst (gk), Deen (gk).
