Conference League: Aston Villa 2 Olympiacos 4 - Report

Yet there may be few who truly believe his team are still capable of ending a 28-year trophy drought this season, after an error-strewn first leg performance left them with a mountain to climb against Olympiacos in the Europa Conference League.

Villa will head to Greece for next week's second leg with it all to do after this 4-2 defeat, just the fifth home loss Emery has suffered in European competition.

Rarely can the four-time Europa League winner have experienced a night like this.

This was a match which featured none of the control which Emery craves. Instead, it was chaos right from the start and on a night where both teams created numerous good chances, his came off worse with his Spanish rival, Jose Luis Mendilibar, the man celebrating at the finish.

Already without Emi Martinez through suspension and Youri Tielemans through injury, Emery made one unenforced change, giving Clement Lenglet a first start in nearly a month in place of Pau Torres at centre-half.

It was a strange decision which did not pay off. Villa’s defence looked shaky throughout and Lenglet was also responsible for Leon Bailey seeing an early goal wiped out with a needless shirt pull. While Martinez’s understudy, Robin Olsen, was not to blame for any of the goals, it was also impossible not to feel the hosts missed the Argentina international’s leadership and presence.

Villa’s erratic display was encapsulated by midfielder Douglas Luiz, who conceded a penalty for handball after his team had come from two goals down to level and then missed one in the closing stages. That would have given Villa more hope heading to Athens. Instead, the odds are stacked against them.

Two goals down in half-an-hour through Ayoub El Kaabi’s double, Villa looked to have staved off disaster when Ollie Watkins and Moussa Diaby struck to level it up.

But Luiz then conceded the penalty from which Morocco international El Kaabi got his hat-trick and a deflected Santiago Hezze effort then put the Greek visitors two goals up again. Luiz’s missed penalty summed up his and Villa’s night.

Thousands of Villa supporters turned up early to greet the team’s arrival and the noise inside Villa Park at kick-off was near deafening.

But the hosts made a nervy start, a sign of what was to follow, Olsen tipping over Vicente Iborra’s close range header. Though the flag went up, replays suggested the midfielder may have been onside.

With Villa’s first attack, Morgan Rogers must have thought he had opened the scoring with a shot sent curling toward the bottom corner, only for Kostas Tzolakis to pull off an incredible save to turn it round the post.

A few minutes later, Villa thought they had broken the deadlock when Leon Bailey headed home at close range but Marco Guida, the Italian referee had spotted a shirt pull by Lenglet on Iborra and immediately whistled for the foul.

Just when it looked as though the hosts were getting on top, the visitors took the lead. Lenglet stepped out of defence to meet Chiquinho but found the ball played through his legs with a neat backheel and El Kaabi finished smartly over Olsen. Visiting cheers were initially quelled by an offside flag but VAR ruled Matty Cash had been slightly slow in stepping up and the on-field decision was overturned.

Villa looked shell-shocked and before the half-hour mark things got worse. Watkins couldn’t control Lenglet’s pass and when the ball was worked to Daniel Podence, he lifted a pass over the top of the Villa defence for the run of El Kaabi, who headed the ball into the ground before sliding a finish under Olsen.

The hosts looked ragged, their frustrations with referee Guida heightened when he declined appeals for a penalty when Francisco Ortega appeared to pull down Bailey in the box.

Villa needed a spark and as the match moved into stoppage time, Watkins provided it. Cash burst down the right, found Bailey and he played in Watkins, who lashed a finish inside the far post. Having looked in need of the break, Villa suddenly didn’t want the whistle, Diaby seeing a shot blocked behind as the hosts poured forward.

The start of the second half was delayed by a medical emergency in the crowd but Villa picked up where they had left off and within seven minutes the tie was level. Lucas Digne picked out the run of Bailey and found Diaby, who beat Tzolakis at his near post.

It was Villa who now seemed to have all the momentum but within four minutes, Olympiacos were back in front. Luiz jumped with his arms raised and Panagiotis Retsos’ header thumped against his right. Referee Guida immediately pointed to the spot and El Kaabi sent Olsen the wrong way for his hat-trick.

The scoring was not finished there. Midway through the half Hezze tried his luck from 25 yards out and it paid off, the ball striking Ezri Konsa and completely wrong-footing Olsen. Villa had it all to do again.

With eight minutes to go they were presented with the chance to reduce the deficit when substitute Jhon Duran went down under the challenge of David Carmo. But Luiz, typically so reliable from the spot, missed for the first time in his Villa career to leave Emery’s men with it all to do.

Teams

Villa (4-4-2): Olsen, Cash, Konsa, Lenglet, Digne, Bailey (Iroegbunam 85), Luiz, McGinn, Rogers (Duran 74), Diaby (Zaniolo 85), Watkins Subs not used: Carlos, Pau, Kesler-Hayden, Munroe, Kellyman, Young, Gauci (gk), Wright (gk).

Olympiacos (4-3-2-1): Tzolakis, Rodinei, Retsos, Carmo, Ortega (Richards HT), Hezze, Iborra, Chiquinho, Podence (Horta 70), Fortounis, El Kaabi Subs: El-Arabi, Alexandropoulos, Quini, Carvalho, Jovetic, Prekates, Paschalakis (gk), Papadoudis (gk)