Soccer

Jhon Duran is Aston Villa’s super sub once again as his goal sinks Bayern Munich

Champions League wrap: Salah stunner helps Liverpool beat Bologna; Lille shock champions Real Madrid

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran celebrates after the full-time whistle. Photograph: David Davies/PA Wire
Wed Oct 02 2024 - 22:28
Champions League: Aston Villa 1 Bayern Munich 0 (Duran 79)

Aston Villa produced a memorable repeat of their famous European Cup final victory over Bayern Munich as they won 1-0 in the Champions League at Villa Park.

Villa beat the German club 42 years ago to lift Europe’s biggest prize when Peter Withe was the hero in Rotterdam.

Jhon Duran was the match-winner this time as he continued his role of super sub, with a 79th-minute strike his fifth goal after coming off the bench this season.

It sent Villa Park wild as memories of that famous night in 1982 were evoked, with Prince William leading the celebrations from the stand.

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Villa were able to see it out to make it two wins from two in their first foray into the Champions League and produce their best night since those heady days of the early 1980s.

England captain Harry Kane was fit to play for Bayern Munich and almost equalised at the death, but he could not prevent a first defeat in 43 non-knockout matches in the Champions League.

Unai Emery was also the manager last time they lost – a 3-0 defeat to Paris St Germain in 2017.

Victory underlines what a remarkable job the Spaniard has done since arriving in the midlands almost two years ago, transforming them from relegation candidates to a team who can go toe-to-toe with the best clubs in Europe.

The atmosphere was electric before kick-off with Villa fans basking in their biggest game in over 40 years before falling silent to take in the Champions League anthem for the first time on home soil.

It took a while for Villa to get into it, with Ollie Watkins heading over in the 18th minute as the noise ramped up.

The decibels went through the roof as they thought they had taken the lead in the 23rd minute when Pau Torres poked in a loose ball from a free-kick.

However, mad scenes of celebration were cut short when Jacob Ramsey was ruled offside by VAR from the initial set-piece.

It was a hot spell for the hosts and they came close several moments later as the ball fell to Amadou Onana on the edge of the area but he shot straight at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Bayern weathered the storm and Emiliano Martinez was forced into his first meaningful save, superbly tipping over Michael Olise’s curling effort over the crossbar.

Bayern took control in the second half and began to knock on the door more regularly, with Olise having two shots blocked and half-time substitute Jamal Musiala also denied after dancing into the area.

Villa’s biggest threat came by using their pace on the break and that is how Duran’s winner came about 11 minutes from time.

Torres’ long ball found Duran and, with Neuer woefully out of position, the Colombian shot into an empty net.

There were some nervy moments as Villa defended for their lives and Martinez produced two brilliant saves to win it.

First he denied Serge Gnabry from close range after the former Arsenal man was played in and then made a sprawling save to claw away Kane’s header at the death.

Liverpool 2 Bologna 0 (Mac Allister 11, Salah 75)

Mohamed Salah’s timely late intervention made sure of a victorious return of the Champions League to Anfield as Liverpool beat Bologna 2-0.

Alexis Mac Allister’s first goal in Europe’s elite club competition gave the Reds an 11th-minute lead against the debutants, but the night was far from straightforward for the hosts.

However, for the ninth time in as many Champions League appearances, Salah scored to ease the anxiety with 15 minutes left.

It was the 49th Champions League goal in total for the 32-year-old, who is out of contract at the end of the season, and his sixth in four appearances against the Serie A side.

This was a hard-won victory as Bologna were not overawed by their first trip to Anfield and from the off committed five men to a high press.

That caused some problems for the hosts, although when striker Thijs Dallinga put the ball in the net he had strayed well offside long before he beat Alisson Becker.

Even after Liverpool took an early lead they found it difficult to play their way out from the back and had it not been for Alisson and the frame of the goal they would have been in more trouble.

But the goal itself was a prime example of the way Slot, who had urged his side to show the Champions League what it had missed after spending last season in the Europa League, wants to play.

From deep Mac Allister exchanged passes with Dominik Szoboszlai and played a clever pass into Darwin Nunez on the edge of the D, with the Uruguay international showing an awareness lacking for most of the hour he was on the pitch by laying off the ball to Salah out wide.

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring with Trent Alexander-Arnold. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Wire

The Egypt international delivered an inswinging cross to the far post which was so deep Mac Allister was barely two yards out when he converted.

There followed a brief flurry when it seemed Liverpool would overwhelm their opponents.

Nunez beat goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski one-on-one but had gone early to reach Trent Alexander-Arnold’s through-ball, Szoboszlai swept wide a Salah cutback when he when he should have at least tested the goalkeeper and Nunez shot weakly having done the difficult job of bringing down Ryan Gravenberch’s lofted pass.

From there Slot’s side lost their way as Szoboszlai’s misplaced header saw Dan Ndoye, Bologna’s main threat, have a shot deflect off Ibrahima Konate on to the crossbar and then hit the outside of a post after Liverpool’s defence made a mess of clearing a cross.

When Ndoye robbed Alexander-Arnold, Kacper Urbanski forced a save out of Alisson as Liverpool continued to struggle to get the ball out of the squeeze their opponents were putting on them.

Not much changed after the break as Alisson, on his 32nd birthday, saved from Riccardo Orsolini, with the host’s muted response seeing Salah curl a shot wide.

However, the Egyptian did not make the same mistake when he cut inside from Szoboszlai’s pass to fire across Skorupski.

Lille 1 Real Madrid 0 (David 45+2)

A first-half penalty earned Lille a shock 1-0 home victory over holders Real Madrid in the Champions League group phase on Wednesday, ending the 15-time Champions League winners’ 14-game unbeaten run in the competition.

Jonathan David converted a penalty three minutes into first-half stoppage time to hand Real, who had not lost in their previous 36 matches in all competitions, their first defeat since January.

The result put Ligue 1 side Lille on three points from two games in the new format of Europe’s premier club competition.

Real, who won their opening match against VfB Stuttgart, are also on three points.

Other results:

RB Leipzig 2 Juventus 3

Benfica 4 Atletico Madrid 0

Dinamo Zagreb 2 Monaco 2

Sturm Graz 0 Club Brugge 1

Girona 2 Feyenoord 3