Tyrone Mings error would embarrass Sunday League players as Aston Villa's horror week continues
Aston Villa were dealt a first Champions League loss of the season as Club Brugge took advantage of a bizarre moment from Tyrone Mings, who conceded the strangest of penalties
by Neil Moxley · The MirrorTyrone Mings’ Champions League dream turned into a nightmare after a freak handball ruined Unai Emery’s perfect start.
The England international, making his first appearance in the competition, was pulled up by referee Tobias Stieler for an infringement that would have embarrassed Sunday League players as Villa suffered their third defeat in a week.
Mings, who has been working his way back to fitness following a 15-month injury battle with a knee injury, put his hand down to stop the ball in the 52nd minute after keeper Emi Martinez had passed it to him from inside the six-yard box.
Match official Tobias Stieler adjudged that the pass meant the goal kick had been taken and, much to the delight of the home crowd, pointed to the spot. The penalty was duly converted by Hans Vanaken - the first goal Villa have conceded in the competition since their return.
The controversy echoed that which happened in the quarter-final between Arsenal and Bayern Munich seven months ago. The Bavarians’ then-boss, Thomas Tuchel, was furious that defender Gabriel had not been pulled up for a similar moment of confusion with keeper David Raya.
The referee that night, Glenn Nyberg, said that it was ‘a kid’s mistake’ and refused to punish the Gunners’ defender. However, the German official saw it differently last night and gave Bruges the chance to defeat Villa. Despite the manner of the reversal, Emery can have few complaints as, in Belgium's beer capital, their performance was decidedly flat.
They managed just one chance on goal in opening half - and weren’t much brighter after the interval, despite the club’s boss using all his substitutes in an effort to breathe life into his lacklustre side. It rounded off a poor week - his worst since taking charge just over two years ago.
He went into this on the back of back-to-back defeats. One was a limp surrender to Crystal Palace that left supporters wondering if the Carabao Cup was anywhere on his list of priorities. The other was a painful second half at Spurs.
Emery was fortunate not to be looking at a deficit by the halfway stage at the Jan Breydel Stadium. In terms of shots on target, the score was 5-1 in the hosts’ favour. That hardly looked on the cards during the opening quarter which Villa dominated. And could claim on a couple of occasions that they were only marginally off-beam.
Morgan Rogers saw a shot deflected wide. Ollie Watkins took one touch and fired off a shot after Youri Tielemans fed him. And John McGinn could not convert a clever pass from Boubacar Kamara, like Mings, experiencing his first game for the club in the Champions League.
But Bruges, who were playing in their 100th fixture in this competition, stuck to their guns and started enjoying the better of the attacking exchanges. Ferran Jutgla darted beyond Villa’s defence, taking a reverse pass from Christos Tzolis in his pass and firing a shot that cannoned into the upright. Bruges worked the ball around after it came into play and Tzolis forced Emi Martinez into a full-length stop.
Shortly afterwards, the Argentine keeper was beaten as Maxim De Cuyper’s flicked header went past him. Mings was on hand to flick the ball off the line with his left leg. That was to be as good as it got for the defender as buoyed by this surprise breakthrough, Bruges grew in confidence to see out the game with the minimum of fuss.
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