Wasteful Villa punished as Go Ahead Eagles seal famous Europa league win

Emiliano Buendia missed a late penalty as Aston Villa suffered a surprise 2-1 loss to Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League in Deventer, Sport360NG reports.

Evann Guessand’s early strike had appeared to set Villa on course for another comfortable European victory, but the Eredivisie side mounted an impressive comeback to stun Unai Emery’s much-changed team.

Mathis Suray levelled shortly before half-time when his deflected effort looped beyond Emiliano Martínez, before Mats Deijl capitalised on slack defending to lift the ball over the Villa goalkeeper just after the hour mark.

Buendia then spurned a golden chance to equalise, blasting his penalty over the bar after Dean James was penalised for handball, sparking wild celebrations inside the compact De Adelaarshorst stadium.

The result marked a memorable night for Go Ahead Eagles, who are competing in Europe for the first time in 92 years after lifting the Dutch Cup last season. For Villa, however, it was a frustrating evening that ended their perfect start to the group stage and left them seventh in the standings, level on six points with their Dutch opponents.

Villa had controlled much of the first half and looked comfortable after Guessand’s early finish, which came when home goalkeeper Jari de Busser failed to deal with a low cross. The Ivorian forward had a chance to double the lead soon after, only for De Busser to make amends with a fine save, while Jadon Sancho was also denied by the Belgian stopper.

But Villa’s failure to take their chances proved costly. Suray’s equaliser, deflecting in off Tyrone Mings, changed the momentum, and Deijl’s second-half strike punished more hesitant defending.

Analysis: Wasteful Villa Let Control Slip

For Unai Emery, the nature of the defeat will be particularly concerning. His side dominated the opening stages but wasted a string of chances through Buendia, Ollie Watkins and Mings. Once pegged back, Villa’s rhythm disappeared, and even the introductions of John McGinn, Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen could not restore control.

Malen came closest to rescuing a point when his cross clipped the bar, but Buendia’s penalty miss, Villa’s fourth failure from the spot in their last five European attempts, sealed their fate and handed the Dutch side a famous victory.