There was hardly a murmur as Emiliano Martínez took a short goal-kick five minutes into the second half and then, a few seconds later, huge cheers from those decked out in Club Brugge blue and black as the ramifications of Tyrone Mings’s brain freeze, a memorable and regrettable faux pas, dawned on them. The Villa defender mistakenly assumed Martínez had not restarted play and so scooped the ball up with his left hand, placed it on the edge of the six-yard box and proceeded to sidefoot the ball back to his goalkeeper.
Only the officials, Brugge’s players and most of the stadium were convinced the ball was in play. The German referee, Tobias Stieler, after a brief VAR review, penalised Mings, who had been booked in the first half, by awarding a penalty, but stopped short of reaching for a second yellow.
Even Ezri Konsa wondered how his teammate escaped a red card. Hans Vanaken, the Brugge captain, sent the subsequent spot-kick down the middle and the 19-time Belgian champions seized a deserved lead, albeit in peculiar circumstances.
The obvious precedent occurred in this competition’s quarter-finals in April, when Thomas Tuchel, then in charge of Bayern Munich, said the referee Glenn Nyberg told him he would not punish Gabriel for a “kid’s mistake” after he picked the ball up from an Arsenal goal-kick. Unai Emery had no complaints. “It is a very, very strange mistake, but it’s football,” he said. “We have to forget it quickly. It’s the biggest mistake I have witnessed in my career. This mistake is not going to happen again for a long time – I don’t think in my lifetime.”
Two years to the day since Emery’s first game in charge of Villa, a 3-1 win over Manchester United, it is worth remembering how far they have come, though given the disgusted look on his face as Vanaken rippled Martínez’s net and desire not to sugarcoat Mings’s mistake, Villa’s manager probably doesn’t feel that way. On the night, Emery’s side were unpicked by Nicky Hayen, the Brugge manager who two years ago was in charge of the Cymru Premier League side Haverfordwest County. At the final whistle Simon Mignolet, Brugge’s former Liverpool and Sunderland goalkeeper, celebrated by knee-sliding towards a bank of ecstatic home fans. Then came the techno over the speakers.
Club Brugge are awarded a penalty after Tyrone Mings picks the ball up inside his own area 😳
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 6, 2024
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A lively game will be remembered for Mings’s inadvertent act of sabotage. “It is a clear penalty,” Hayen said. “If we had conceded it, it would have been a penalty as well – it is a manager’s nightmare. We knew it immediately because he took the ball and didn’t notice. If we had to concede something like that it would have been very sour but it is a small present that we accepted gladly.”
It would be wrong to suggest Brugge only prospered, abruptly ending Villa’s 100% record in the Champions League, because of that decision. The hosts had been the better team, more dynamic, more dangerous. Ollie Watkins sent a first-half shot narrowly wide and John McGinn fluffed an awkward header but they struggled to penetrate Brugge, for whom the centre-backs Joel Ordóñez and Brandon Mechele were excellent, displaying strength and composure. Boubacar Kamara pulled a shot wide as Villa probed with 85 minutes gone.
Mignolet was not troubled in the first half but down the other end Martínez had to be on his toes to ensure things were goalless at the interval. Brugge had a flurry of chances, including two in the 30th minute. Ferran Jutglà fired a shot against a post, via a thin Martínez paw. Brugge smelt blood and seconds later Martínez flew down low to get a left hand to Christos Tzolis’s curled effort. Perhaps it was pure coincidence that Villa’s band of substitutes headed along the touchline to warm up moments later.
Villa were on the ropes. Maxim De Cuyper sent a teasing cross into the box and Casper Nielsen glanced a backward header goalwards, prompting Mings into a panicked, hooked clearance. Ardon Jashari was first to the rebound and drilled a shot at Martínez. Mings would end up as one of five changes and one of three in defence, having partnered Diego Carlos at centre-back. Neither looked at ease with both booked in the first half, Diego Carlos for dissent. The former Norwich forward Tzolis caused problems and dovetailed neatly with Andreas Skov Olsen. Emery was in a rush to get down the tunnel before the half-time whistle blew. For Mings, this his second start after 14 months out injured, it proved a European debut to forget.
It had been a low-key start to the second half before Mings’s bizarre error gave Brugge a leg up, though their adventure probably deserved one. Ian Maatsen, another change from Villa’s 4-1 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday, made an important clearance to prevent Skov Olsen reaching a devilish cross from the substitute Joaquin Seys at the back post and Skov Olsen and Bjorn Meijer went close to a second. Villa got what a lukewarm performance merited, a third successive defeat – each in different competitions – via a peculiar episode that Mings and everybody of a Villa persuasion will wish to forget in a hurry.
