Every player who has played in the Champions League can remember his debut in the competition and Tyrone Mings will recall his for all the wrong reasons.
Back only recently after more than a year out due to serious knee injuries, Mings made the sort of mistake that would embarrass a primary school kid playing with friends in the yard at lunchtime.
Early in the second half, Aston Villa were awarded a goal-kick. Emi Martinez placed the ball in his six-yard box and passed short to Mings. Believing the ball was not yet live, Mings decided to pick it up in his hands and roll it back to his goalkeeper. Both men were stunned to see referee Tobias Stieler march forward and point to the spot.
Clearly, Mings had not realised that the referee had blown his whistle. Club Brugge were only too happy to accept the gift. Hans Vanaken gambled correctly that Martinez would commit himself and slid the ball down the middle, sealing a third straight defeat for Villa.
Villa boss Unai Emery will have been livid. Few coaches pay as much attention to detail as the Basque. He will have watched countless videos of Brugge in the build-up to this tie and held several meetings with both his entire squad and individual players, nailing down the tactical plan to the letter. You can dream up the cleverest ideas in the world, though. They will not protect you from once-in-a-lifetime errors like these.
Club Brugge skipper Hans Vanaken made the most of the gift and calmly converted his 52nd-minute penalty
The Belgian side recorded their second win of the competition and climbed up to 21st in the standings
Tyrone Mings was unfortunate to concede the penalty which handed the home side the chance to claim the win
Mings will bounce back. The injuries he sustained on the opening day of last season might have ended the careers of some players. Yet the England centre-back is as mentally strong as they come and will know how to overcome this mistake.
Emery will be more worried about the performance – predictable, tired, uneasy, and never troubling Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. The result is unlikely to compromise Villa’s chances of progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League, as they opened their campaign with three straight wins. It does not fill Villa fans with confidence, however, ahead of Saturday’s trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Usually so certain of his tactics, it felt here as though Emery fiddled needlessly. He asked Morgan Rogers and John McGinn to switch positions – an experiment he abandoned at half-time – and took a risk by picking Mings and the out-of-form Diego Carlos in central defence. Villa needed a fine performance from Martinez to keep the score down and much better is needed at Anfield.
With qualification from the league phase tantalisingly close, Emery included Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara for the first time in the competition. Both have had long spells on the sidelines and this was Mings’ Champions League debut.
Villa’s play in the first half lacked the confidence of their first three games in this competition. The build-up was slow and their defending uncertain. Emery had chosen to switch Morgan Rogers from the centre to the left and his effort from the edge of the box was deflected just wide. At the other end, Brandon Mechele’s effort from distance was straight at Emi Martinez.
Just after the 20-minute mark, Villa created their first chance. Youri Tielemans – booed relentlessly as a former player of Brugge’s rivals Anderlecht – robbed Hans Vanaken in the middle and set John McGinn running free. Ollie Watkins collected the path and bought a yard of space from Joel Ordonez, only to drag his shot wide. Moments later, McGinn headed Kamara’s cross over at the far post.
When Mings was booked for a late challenge, his centre-back partner Diego Carlos protested so much that he was also shown a yellow card. Emery would have been furious, though he was relieved when his team avoided going 1-0 down after 30 minutes.
Martinez did superbly to turn Ferran Jutgla’s close-range effort on to the post, and then recovered impressively to hang on to Christos Tzolis’ effort from the edge of the box. Villa were looking uncertain now and Mings was forced to hack off the line when Casper Nielsen headed Maxim De Cuyper’s cross goalwards.
Unai Emery was angered by German referee Tobias Stieler’s decision to award a penalty after the misunderstanding
Villa tried to respond. Leon Bailey dashed down the right and set up McGinn, who took aim from 25 yards but former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet made a simple save.
With Rogers drifting inside throughout the first half, Brugge were able to attack effectively down their right, leaving Ian Maatsen isolated at left-back. It was no surprise to see Rogers reclaim his usual spot close to Watkins with McGinn moving to the left.
Yet no tactical switch could prevent what happened six minutes after half-time. Villa could complain all they want at the penalty call but it was such an unnecessary move by Mings. Vanaken duly did the rest from the spot.
Brugge midfielder Ardon Jashari was running the show in the middle. His clipped pass found the run of Jutgla and Mings, desperate to redeem himself, lunged by block Andreas Skov Olsen’s shot from the centre-forward’s lay-off. Skov Olsen then shot over from 20 yards following Tzolis’ fabulous burst down the right.
