Aston Villa defeated Basel 2-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening.

It took the in-form Premier League side just 12 minutes to take the lead, and it was Evann Guessand who opened the scoring with a well taken finish after a scrappy corner. Basel thought they had equalised in the first half through Leroy, but it was disallowed for offside.

That scare for Villa did not act as a wake-up call, as just six minutes later, the Swiss side had the ball in the back of the net again. Xherdan Shaqiri whipped an excellent ball into Villa’s penalty area, and although Bizot came charging out of his goal, Flavius Daniliuc got to the ball first and knocked it past the Dutch goalkeeper to level the match up at 1-1.

Eight minutes into the second half, Villa regained their lead through substitute Youri Tielemans, who placed a beautiful finish into the bottom corner from just outside Basel’s penalty area. The rest of the second half was fairly quiet, and Tielemans’ strike ended up being the last significant moment of the match, and Villa saw the match out to secure all three points in Switzerland.

Match Highlights

Basel Player Ratings

GK: Marwin Hitz – 6/10

Made a few important saves in the first half, but arguably could’ve done more to stop Guessand’s opening goal, as the strike didn’t really have much pace on it.

RB: Keigo Tsunemoto – 7/10

Did very well defensively up against Sancho and managed to keep him from having any impact. Despite being defensively excellent, Tsunemoto didn’t offer much going forward.

CB: Jonas Adjei Adjetey – 7/10

Dealt with the threat of Malen very well and also managed to produce some important clearances. As well as dealing with Malen, Adjetey also helped Tsunemoto keep Sancho out of the match.

CB: Flavius Daniliuc – 8/10

Very good when playing the ball out from the back, and also managed to get on the scoresheet. The Austrian showed real desire to get on the end of Shaqiri’s cross and never really put a foot wrong defensively.

LB: Dominik Schmid – 6/10

Outside of putting a few decent crosses into Villa’s penalty area, Schmid didn’t have that much impact on the match. The left back also had some shaky moments, especially in one-on-one situations against Guessand.

CM: Metinho – 7/10

A solid and calm midfield performance. Metinho put in some good tackles throughout the match and never really put a foot wrong in possession of the ball.

CM: Andrej Bacanin – 6/10

Worked very hard and pressed well in the midfield, but had very little to do in possession of the ball.

CM: Leo Leroy – 7.5/10

Probably Basel’s brightest player. Leroy was unlucky to have had his fantastic strike ruled out due to an offside and was always looking to make things happen in the final third.

RW: Benie Traore – 5.5/10

Very energetic up and down the right flank, but had little impact in the final third.

ST: Xherdan Shaqiri – 7.5/10

Provided a very good assist for Daniliuc’s equaliser in the 34th minute. Outside of his assist, the 34-year-old didn’t really have that much involvement in the match and didn’t register a single shot on goal.

LW: Philip Otele – 7/10

Worked incredibly hard all throughout the match. The Nigerian threatened the Villa back line a few times with his pace and power, but he didn’t get the clear-cut opportunities in front of goal.

SUB: Albian Ajeti – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Ibrahim Salah – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Koba Koindredi – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Moritz Broschinski – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Marin Soticek – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

Aston Villa Player Ratings

GK: Marco Bizot – 5/10

Had just a few routine saves to make during the match. The Dutchman was arguably at fault for Basel’s goal, as he came rushing out of his goal, but never got to the ball.

RB: Matty Cash – 6.5/10

Put in a solid first-half showing, but was taken off at half-time. The Polish international was shown a yellow card quite early in the match, so that could’ve been the reason behind his withdrawal.

CB: Ezri Konsa – 7.5/10

Good when playing the ball out from the back and produced some important defensive actions at key times of the match.

CB: Victor Nilsson Lindelof – 7.5/10

Saw more of the ball than any other player on the pitch, and he never put a foot wrong with it. Lindelof didn’t have much defending to do, but he stayed organised and made Villa hard to break down.

LB: Lucas Digne – 7/10

Did very well defensively up against Traore and also managed to cause some problems in the final third, especially with his crosses into Basel’s box.

CM: Lamare Bogarde – 7.5/10

Really effective in possession of the ball and a really energetic presence in the midfield.

CM: Amadou Onana – 7/10

Never put a foot wrong in possession of the ball, and was a really solid, hard-working physical presence in the middle of the park.

AM: Emiliano Buendia – 7.5/10

Provided a simple but tidy assist for Tielemans’ second-half strike. Buendia had several bright moments with the ball at his feet in the final third, but seemed to struggle with the intensity of the match at times.

RW: Evann Guessand – 8/10

Took his goal well, even though it looked like it was a scuffed strike. Guessand looked to make things happen every time he picked up the ball and was a nightmare for Schmid to defend against at times.

ST: Donyell Malen – 5.5/10

Despite having enjoyed a very good Europa League campaign so far, Malen was pretty ineffective against Basel. He didn’t look his typical pacy and sharp self and was dealt with quite easily by the opposition’s defence.

LW: Jadon Sancho – 4/10

A pretty ineffective performance from the Englishman. Sancho was visibly frustrated after Emery took him off in the second half, and he was likely feeling that way due to his underwhelming performance. The loanee saw quite a bit of the ball in wide areas but was quite easily dealt with by the Basel defenders.

SUB: Youri Tielemans – 8.5/10 (Man of the Match)

Game changer. As soon as Tielemans came on, Villa looked a much better and more composed team. The Belgian controlled the midfield and also managed to score a picture-perfect goal.

SUB: Boubacar Kamara – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.

SUB: Morgan Rogers – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.​​​​​​​

SUB: Ollie Watkins – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.​​​​​​​

SUB: John McGinn – N/A

Didn’t do much after coming on.