Youri Tielemans came off the bench and made an immediate impact for Aston Villa in their 2-1 victory over Basel in the Europa League. Flavius Daniliuc equalized Evann Guessand’s opener before half-time, and Tielemans scored the winning goal for Unai Emery’s team, moving them up to third in the league phase and level on points with Lyon.
The match started with both teams having chances, with Matty Cash and Dominik Schmid going close. Guessand broke the deadlock after 12 minutes, scoring in a crowded box after Xherdan Shaqiri failed to clear a corner. Leo Leroy had a goal disallowed for offside, but Daniliuc equalized for Villa from a Shaqiri cross.
Emery’s substitution of Cash for Tielemans at half-time paid off, as Tielemans scored a beautiful goal just seven minutes into the second half. Guessand and Jadon Sancho had chances to extend Villa’s lead, while Metinho missed a chance for Basel. Villa held on for the win, their eighth consecutive victory in all competitions.
In a tight contest at St. Jakob-Park, Basel had 0.83 expected goals from 11 attempts compared to Villa’s 0.42 from seven shots. Tielemans’ goal separated the sides, with the Belgium captain also creating a chance, completing 92.3% of his passes, and winning all of his midfield duels.
Villa made history by becoming the first team to beat Basel away from home in the Europa League since Belenenses in October 2015, ending Basel’s 10-game unbeaten run.
