SOCCER: Rapid Vienna 1 Aston Villa 1 :ASTON VILLA caretaker-manager Kevin MacDonald staked another claim for becoming boss on a permanent basis as his young side soaked up the pressure on an intimidating European night.
Villa have a firm chance to avenge last season’s loss to Rapid Vienna after a 1-1 first-leg draw at the same stage at the Gerhard Hanappi Stadium, with 20-year-old Barry Bannan scoring the precious away goal.
After 11 minutes Marc Albrighton superbly turned inside left-back Markus Katzer and delivered a low cross into the six-yard box. Bannan was left with an open goal and made no mistake in tapping home from four yards for his first goal for the club.
Rapid’s Steffen Hofmann and Atdhe Nuhiu combined for the equaliser in the 32nd minute.
From the right wing Hofmann’s piercing delivery appeared to go straight in, bouncing beyond the despairing dive of Villa’s goalkeeper Brad Guzan and inside his right-hand post.
However, the scoreboard inside the stadium credited Nuhiu with the goal, if so, the Austrian getting the faintest of touches off the top of his head as he jumped for the ball.
RAPID VIENNA:Hedl, Sonnleitner, Heikkinen, Katzer, Soma, Kayhan, Hoffmann, Kavlak, Hinum (Drazan 85 mins), Salihi (Gartler 72 mins), Nuhiu. Subs Not Used: Payer, Patocka, Saurer, Dober, Pehlivan. Booked: Kayhan, Soma, Katzer.
ASTON VILLA:Guzan, Warnock, Lichaj, Davies, Beye, Reo-Coker, Albrighton (Weimann 79 mins), Bannan (Delfouneso 74 mins), Hogg, Downing, Heskey, Weimann (Osbourne 86 mins). Subs Not Used: Friedel, Clark, Lowry, Baker. Booked: Reo-Coker, Guzan.
Referee:A Hamer (Luxembourg)
