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Aston Villa faced one Europa League They lost 2-1 dutch Minnows Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer.
unai emeryHis team were looking good to extend their winning streak to six matches in all competitions when they went ahead through Ivan Gessand in the fourth minute.
However, they missed several chances to tie the game, and goals either side of half-time from Mathis Suure and Matt Dejal gave Go Ahead a famous victory in one of the biggest games in their history.
It was an unexpected blow in Villa’s quest to make the top eight of the league stage as Emery had planned a fourth-place finish Europa League title, and Emiliano Buendia missed a late penalty to bring his team back to level.
It was also a disappointing night jadon sanchoJoe failed to make an impact in his second start on his loan move to Manchester United and was withdrawn in the second half.
Villa, who face in-form Manchester City on Sunday, should still have enough money to make it to the league stage of the competition, although their next match against Maccabi Tel-Aviv has become a highly political issue.
Go Ahead is a provincial club located 60 miles east of Amsterdam that was most recently playing in the Dutch second tier in 2021.
The atmosphere at the 10,000-capacity De Adelaarshorst was raucous at the start of the match but Villa needed only four minutes to calm them down.
Buendia fed Sancho from the left and his cross was blocked by home goalkeeper Jari de Busser, but only into the path of Gessand, who headed into an empty net.
It was his first goal in a Villa shirt following a £25 million summer move from Nice.
The villa could only go out of sight 10 minutes earlier on the clock ollie watkins He missed a great chance after firing straight at De Busser, who also saved Sancho’s shot after sprinting into the penalty area.
They should have certainly been ahead just before the half-hour when Buendia played Gassand across goal, but the Frenchman delayed and saw his effort blocked by De Busser.
Emery’s side were in complete control but unexpectedly came back in the 42nd minute.
The Villa defense was unable to deal with the floated free-kick and the ball fell to Suare, whose shot took a wide deflection and into the top corner.
The turnaround was complete 15 minutes into the second half as captain Dejal controlled Joris Cremer’s cross with his chest and headed it past Emiliano Martínez.
Villa threw morgan rogersdonyal mallen and John McGinn In an attempt to get back into the game Rogers hit a cross-shot into the woodwork.
They were presented with the perfect opportunity to equalize in the 77th minute when Dean James took charge.
However, due to wind and rain, Buendia saved his penalty and Villa’s return route was blocked.
Rogers moved ahead by inches but the late rally never materialized and Go Ahead produced a fireworks display celebrating a memorable victory.