Europa Conference League: Ajax 0 Aston Villa 0 - Report
Total football it was not.
Yet against the club where Cruyff, Van Basten, Rijkaard et al made the term famous, Villa got a result which, while rather ugly in its acquisition, still makes them favourites to reach the Europa Conference League quarter-finals.
Not that progression through next week’s second leg can be classed anywhere near a sure thing, particularly after the late dismissal of Ezri Konsa for two bookable offences means Villa will play the second leg against Ajax without their top defender. Their other, Pau Torres, left the pitch at half-time in his first match back since injury, though Unai Emery later claimed it as part of a predetermined plan.
Should Villa fail to go through, the obvious question will be whether Emery should have picked a stronger team in Amsterdam, against an opponent with a proud history but rather green, inexperienced line-up at present.
You felt Villa’s best XI, fully focused, would have been too strong for a young Ajax team marshalled by Jordan Henderson which, though mustering the only real chances of the match through Brian Brobbey and Kenneth Taylor, still struggled to make headway.
But with a huge Premier League match against Tottenham less than 72 hours away, Emery’s selection here suggested he very much had Sunday on the mind.
It was, admittedly, a long way from the Moscow surrender which came to define his predecessor Martin O’Neill’s legacy.
Yet the decision to make five changes and leave both John McGinn and Leon Bailey, while handing European debuts to both Tim Iroegbunam and Morgan Rogers, still felt a gamble.
Not for the first time in Europe this season, Villa's performance also smacked of a team trying to do just enough to get through. It may still prove sufficient.
Moussa Diaby’s cross for Lucas Digne’s winner at Luton last Saturday had been the record signing’s most significant contribution for months and it was no surprise to see him handed a start.
Within five minutes, he might have had a goal as Villa worked the ball into a central position and space opened up but his shot was straight at home keeper Diant Ramaj.
Diaby would later send the Ramaj scrambling toward his near post to keep out what looked like a mis-hit cross but otherwise, visiting team’s offered little in an opening half which fell well short of matching the vibrant pre-match atmosphere, in which the Johan Cruyff Arena became a sea of flags and fireworks.
Brobbey headed straight at Emi Martinez from an offside position and then, after Henderson had sent a free-kick flying over the bar, squandered the best chance of the opening 45 minutes.
Defender Jorrel Hato’s pass found the striker in behind Konsa but after sprinting toward goal he placed his shot well wide of Martinez’s near post.
Rogers had been struggling to make much of an impact but got half a chance early in the second period when found in space but dallied and the chance was gone.
Ajax continued to look marginally more threatening, Martinez holding on to Taylor’s low cross at the second attempt after Henderson’s pass had evaded two Villa defenders and found his team-mate in space near the byline.
The visitors were sloppy with Cash, who had replaced Torres off the bench at the break, overhitting a cross intended for Rogers behind for a goal-kick.
Come the midway point of the second half, Martinez was forced into his first real action of the night by Kenneth Taylor, saving at his near post after the winger had exchanged passes with Borna Sosa and fired toward goal.
The match looked to be petering out to a goal-less draw until with seven minutes remaining, Brobbey got in behind again and Konsa brought him tumbling with a tug of the arm.
Booked in the first half for handling the ball after he appeared to have been fouled, the defender protested his innocence but referee Enea Jorgji’s mind was already made.
McGinn, who had joined the action with Bailey past the hour mark, finished the match at centre-back with Villa's man disadvantage lasting only three minutes when Tristan Gooijer also saw red for a second booking.
Ajax (3-4-3): Ramaj, Rensch, Kaplan, Hato, Gooijer, Henderson, Mannsverk (Van Den Boomen 77), Sosa, Hlynsson (Akpom 80), Brobbey, Taylor Subs not used: Gaaei, Borges, Medic, Rijkhoff, Fitz-Jim, Tahirovic, Martha, Gorter (gk), Rulli (gk).
Villa (4-4-2): Martinez, Konsa, Lenglet, Torres (Cash HT), Digne (Moreno 74), Diaby (McGinn 63), Iroegbunam (Zaniolo 74), Luiz, Rogers (Bailey 63), Tielemans, Watkins Subs not used: Carlos, Kesler-Hayden, Kellyman, Olsen (gk), Gauci (gk).
