Aston Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich: Match report and player ratings from a magical European night at Villa Park

Aston Villa repeated their epic victory over Bayern Munich in 1982 with a 1-0 win at Villa Park courtesy of Jhon Duran's winning goal ten minutes from time. Following the match's conclusion and the second round of the Champions League league phase, Villa sits handsomely in the automatic qualification places with six points from six.

Match report

Bayern Munich quickly settled into the game in the opening fifteen minutes, keep hold of the ball and moving it about nicely. The first chance of the game fell to Bayern as Kimmich curled a cross to the far post, where Harry Kane met it with a powerful header. Unfortunately for him, Emi Martinez used his feet to deny him from close-range. The offside flag was also raised so it wouldn't have counted, but an early warning to Villa.

20 minutes into the contest, Bayern Munich were fortunate to still have eleven men on the field. Ollie Watkins had twice got the better of Bayern centre-half Dayot Upamecano on the turn and twice he was pulled back. On the first occasion, the referee seemed to have dropped his glasses as instead of a foul and a red card for the defender who was the last man, he waved play on, much to the dismay of the Villa crowd. The second time saw a similar scenario as Martinez played a long ball over his head and the French defender pulled Watkins back, leading to a yellow card.

The home side took their time to shake off the nerves, but the game changed when Pau Torres had the ball in the back of the net. Youri Tielemans floated a free-kick to the far post, and Jacob Ramsey played it back to Lucas Digne. The French full-back then crossed it high to the back post and the ball eventually fell to Torres who poked the ball home off the post. However, despite Villa's celebrations and the incredible eruption of noise inside Villa Park, the goal was disallowed as Ramsey was offside in the build-up.

Although Villa were unluck to not take the lead, the disallowed goal seemed to give the team confidence and Villa looked much more settled as a result. Emi Martinez was called upon again later in the half to deny Michael Olise from long range, but the first half drew to a close with the scores level. Despite only having 37% of the ball in that first half, Villa looked assured and the feeling around the ground was that this German team were there for the taking.

The second half was similar to the first, Bayern having the majority of the ball without posing a major threat to the Villa goal. Meanwhile, Villa were standing firm and looking dangerous on the counter-attack. Morgan Rogers in particular was causing Bayern plenty of issues with his rampaging ball-carrying through midfield.

Unai Emery decided with 20 minutes to go that it was time to introduce the super-sub, Jhon Duran. Ollie Watkins made way and the Colombian came on to a standing ovation from the Villa faithful. Ten minutes after coming on, his big chance came. Pau Torres played an exquisite ball through the midfield line into the on-rushing Duran, and he managed to lob the ball over Manuel Neuer, who was in no man's land, from 30-yards out. WOW. Villa Park went crazy.

"In our analysis of them we were speaking a lot about the position of Neuer"

Aston Villa faught for their lives for the final few minutes, and Emi Martinez was again called upon to come to Villa's rescue. Harry Kane's glancing header seemed destined for the far corner only for Martinez to dive across and parry the ball away with his right hand. The final whilst finally blew over five minutes into the four minutes of stoppage time and the scenes on the pitch and in the stands were something to behold. A new chapter in Aston Villa's history had been written.

Player ratings

Emiliano Martinez - The Argentine world-cup-winning goalkeeper had a sensational evening. He made several key stops to deny Harry Kane, Michael Olise and Serge Gnabry and with the captain's armband on, he led from the front. 10

Ezri Konsa - After Sunday's draw at Ipswich, there were significant doubts about his ability to play at right-back. However, his performance against Bayern silenced those doubts, blocking and tackling anyone that came near him. 9

Diego Carlos - Like Konsa, many doubts have been raised about Carlos's ability and future in a Villa shirt. Well, big-game Carlos certainly showed up. The man may not always perform at the highest of his capabilities, but the Brazilian shines whenever a big team comes to Villa Park to play under the floodlights. Kept England's record goal-scorer very quiet. 9

Pau Torres - The Spanish ball-playing centre-back displayed his incredible quality on the ball, as well as looking very solid in defence. He was unlucky to have had his goal disallowed in the first half following a VAR review but had the last laugh with a magnificent assist for the winning goal. 9

Lucas Digne - The fact Ian Maatsen, who cost £37.5 million in the summer, can't get into the team pays testament to how well Digne has played. Once again, he didn't put a foot wrong against Bayern. Defended superbly and his crosses into the box caused huge problems for the Bayern defence. 8

Amadou Onana - The Belgian powerhouse looked fairly solid in the middle of the park, doing a good job in disrupting Bayern's attacking flow. Probably should have done better with his shot from the edge of the box in the first half. 7

Youri Tielemans - Onana's fellow Belgian continued his fine early-season form. Orchestrating things in midfield and more than holding his own up against Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, he was superb. Plays the game at his own pace, wonderful to watch. 9

Morgan Rogers - Not sure what else Rogers has to do to convince Lee Carsley that he deserves a place in the national squad. Terrorising the Bayern midfield and defence with his bulldozing runs, he once again stood out. Rogers has the most successful take-on's (9) in the Champions League so far. 9

Jacob Ramsey - Very unfortunate to have to leave the field with an injury after half an hour. Ramsey had been growing into the game and looked dangerous going forward. Hopefully, his injury will not be too serious and he will return after the international break. 6

Jaden Philogene - Eyebrows were certainly raised when the youngster was named in the starting XI. Making his first competitive start for the club since August 2021, he was magnificent. His work off the ball was outstanding and looked dangerous down the wing when in possession. Hopefully this will be the kickstart to a brilliant career in claret and blue. 10

Ollie Watkins - The England forward worked incredibly hard and ran Upamecano ragged. Didn't really have a clear goalscoring chance, but his efforts in holding the ball up, running down the channels and more was fantastic. 9

Ross Barkley - Again made a positive impact off the bench. Caught in possession a couple of times but made important tackles and interceptions towards the end. 8

Jhon Duran - The super-sub is really making a name for himself, ay? His inevitable goal after coming on with 20 minutes to play was simply incredible. The confidence and ability to lob a world-cup and two-time Champions League-winning goalkeeper from distance is astounding. What a man. 10

Ian Maatsen - Came on as a left winger following the injury problems of Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey. He did his bit in defence and looked threatening with the ball. Solid. 7

Leon Bailey - The Jamaican came on for Ramsey in the first half and was taken off again in the second after struggling massively. Bailey is clearly not match fit, as explained post-match by Emery, and a was a shadow of the incredible player Villa had last season. When he is fit, I have no doubt he will return to his usual high level. 5

Man Of The Match

UTV