Historic night: Go Ahead Eagles stun Aston Villa in UEFA Europa League victory
Go Ahead Eagles picked up one of their most impressive victories in the club’s history on Thursday, beating English Premier League side Aston Villa in the UEFA Europa League. The club from Deventer beat Unai Emery’s side 2-1, with the team’s captain, Mats Deijl, scoring the winner after Mathis Suray had gotten the club’s first.
Manager Melvin Boels named Yassir Salah Rahmouni in his starting 11 for the first time. Raymond is the youngest player to start a game for Go Ahead since Julliani Eersteling in January 2021.
It was a very difficult start to the game for Boels’ side. Aston Villa broke the deadlock after just four minutes when a great pass from Belgian international Amadou Onana found Jadon Sancho. His cross was palmed away by Jari de Busser, but it went straight to Evann Guessand, who got just enough on the ball to knock it into the goal for his first goal for the club.
De Busser made a huge error in possession a few minutes later. The goalkeeper played a pass straight to Guessand, but he made up for it by saving the shot by Ollie Watkins.
Villa were dominating as De Busser had to make another save in the 10th minute. Sancho cut inside two defenders before leaving the ball to Emiliano Buendia, but the Argentinian’s finish was poor, giving De Busser the chance to save.
Guessand missed another chance in the 29th minute. Buendia played a great through ball to the winger, who had around 30 yards to decide what to do with his finish, but again De Busser came to the rescue with the save.
Go Ahead equalized against the run of play just before halftime. A pre-planned free kick resulted in Mathis Suray’s shot deflecting into the goal via the legs of Pau Torres.
It got even better for the Go Ahead fans on the hour mark. A long ball by Joris Kramer found the captain, Mats Deijl, and he poked it home to send the fans in the Adelaarshorst into delirium.
It was clear that it was going to be Go Ahead’s night in the 79th minute. The visitors were awarded a penalty when Matty Cash’s cross hit the arms of Dean James. But Buendia skied the penalty, leaving Villa’s last chance in the dust.
It is an incredible win for Go Ahead against a team that finished fifth in the English Premier League last season. The Deventer club now has two wins in three games in the competition.
