Aston Villa 3–1 Viking: Finding the Gaps

Viking had frustrated Bayern Munich by closing off the centre of the pitch. At Villa Park, Unai Emery found a way to stretch that defensive organisation, using John McGinn and Emiliano Buendía between the lines and two young wingers prepared to attack the space beyond. Alysson was outstanding, while João Gomes’ midfield contribution helped Villa sustain pressure throughout a dominant opening hour.

By Nico Valenti

Viking arrived at Villa Park having demonstrated how difficult they could be to break down. Their 3–3 draw with Bayern Munich had been built on exceptional defensive discipline, particularly during a first half in which they restricted the German champions’ access to the space between midfield and defence. Bayern were frequently directed towards the touchlines, finding few opportunities to combine through the narrow central channels they normally exploit.

Against Aston Villa, that defensive organisation was tested almost immediately.

Nicolas Jackson had already forced two saves from Arild Østbø inside seven minutes, João Gomes struck the underside of the crossbar with a deflected delivery and Ross Barkley eventually headed Villa ahead after 23 minutes. Emiliano Buendía converted a penalty before half-time, with Alysson’s acceleration creating the opportunity, and the Brazilian’s excellent second-half performance brought a third when Henrik Heggheim diverted his delivery into his own net.

The 3–1 scoreline, completed by Peter Christiansen’s superb late volley, hardly reflected the extent of Villa’s first-half superiority. They attempted 14 shots before the interval, while Viking managed just one, worth 0.02 expected goals. Villa eventually finished with 21 attempts, ten on target and 2.67 xG, against ten shots and 0.75 xG for the visitors.

Emery had selected an unfamiliar combination of players, with Kamara rested and Manzambi unavailable through injury. Gomes and Barkley occupied the deeper midfield positions for much of Villa’s possession, while McGinn advanced alongside Buendía and Alysson and Ibrahim Mbaye supplied the width. Behind them, Tyrone Mings, Pau Torres and Victor Lindelöf formed a three-man defensive base.

It gave Villa something resembling a 3-2-4-1 in possession, with five players regularly occupying Viking’s defensive attention. Their movements were fluid, but the underlying arrangement was clear enough. Viking had to defend the full width of the pitch while keeping close watch on McGinn and Buendía, who repeatedly looked for room between their midfielders and centre-backs.

Stretching Viking’s midfield

The positioning of McGinn was particularly interesting. Having played on the right against Newcastle, where his defensive work helped Matty Cash contain Harvey Barnes and Lewis Hall, the Villa captain was given considerable freedom to advance centrally. He regularly appeared in the inside-right channel, sometimes close to Buendía and occasionally moving towards Alysson to support possession.

Viking’s midfield, led by Joe Bell, had been effective against Bayern when the opposition tried to pass directly through its narrow defensive shape. McGinn’s movement made that responsibility more awkward. Bell and his teammates had to remain conscious of Buendía receiving between the lines, while McGinn could drift towards the ball or make a forward run beyond them.

Gomes and Barkley provided the passing options behind those movements. Gomes joined Barkley to help Villa move the ball across the pitch, stepping forward when an opportunity appeared and offering a route around Viking’s first line of pressure.

His figures underline how involved he was. Gomes recorded 81 touches, completed 91% of his passes and made seven line-breaking passes. His energy was evident when carrying the ball forward, and he retained the defensive aggression that has made him increasingly important in recent weeks.

McGinn was equally influential. He completed 69 of 74 passes, including five of seven longer deliveries, and created three big chances. His early cross for Jackson’s header was an indication of Villa’s willingness to deliver before Viking could establish their defensive positions, while his subsequent movement helped create room for both Buendía and Alysson.

The opening goal emerged after an extended spell of pressure. Gomes advanced and delivered towards the penalty area, his deflected cross striking the underside of the bar and rebounding off Gianni Stensness before going behind. Viking survived the immediate danger and the first resulting corner, but Mbaye’s delivery from the next set piece found Barkley attacking the near post. The midfielder escaped his marker and headed firmly beyond Østbø.

It was Barkley’s third Champions League goal in two appearances, an extraordinary return for a player whose deeper performances earlier in the season had prompted questions about his suitability alongside Kamara. His recent European displays have made better use of his timing around the penalty area and his ability to recognise when to join attacks.

The passing was excellent too. Barkley completed 38 of his 40 attempts, helping Villa keep possession moving while Viking’s midfield was drawn towards the more advanced players.

Mbaye’s contribution to the opener was part of an increasingly rounded performance. His pace remains a valuable attacking weapon, but his delivery and decisions were particularly encouraging against Viking. He created three chances, found teammates with two of his four crosses and maintained 91% passing accuracy during his 71 minutes.

By remaining wide on the left, he also helped create room for Buendía inside. Viking’s full-back could not narrow towards the Argentine without leaving Mbaye available outside, and that uncertainty became especially noticeable when Villa moved possession quickly from one flank to the other.

Buendía was repeatedly the beneficiary. He finished with seven shots and 1.54 expected goals, including his penalty, often arriving inside the area as Jackson occupied the centre-backs. Two particularly promising first-half headers escaped him, one following a save from Alysson and another from a cleverly worked McGinn corner.

Jackson’s own finishing was less convincing than against Fenerbahçe, but he continued to make valuable runs across the defensive line. His early headers demonstrated how readily Villa could find him from wide areas, while his movement helped create the room that Buendía and Barkley attacked.

There was enough variety in those passages to prevent Viking from concentrating on one particular threat. Villa could reach the penalty area through an early cross, find Buendía underneath Jackson or release a winger into space before the full-back received support.

Alysson changed the direction of the attacks

Alysson was the outstanding individual, and his performance provided the clearest example of how Villa could make Viking’s defenders uncomfortable.

The Norwegian champions had defended successfully against Bayern by working in compact groups, bringing midfielders and full-backs together to close passing angles. Alysson made that difficult by receiving wide and accelerating beyond the first challenge before help could arrive.

Heggheim spent much of the evening retreating towards his own penalty area. When Alysson received with space ahead, the defender had to decide whether to engage immediately or allow him to carry closer to goal. Neither proved particularly successful.

The Brazilian completed 21 carries covering 274 metres, including 209 metres of progressive carrying, and created three chances with 0.59 expected assists. He also completed 32 of 36 passes, an encouraging figure for a winger who spent so much of the match taking opponents on.

His direct running was central to Villa’s second goal. Alysson drove into a crowded area of the box, where Zlatko Tripić caught him as he moved past. A VAR intervention resulted in a penalty, which Buendía converted after 37 minutes.

The opportunity arose because Alysson had forced Viking’s defenders to react to him. Their shape was compact enough to restrict a conventional pass, but his acceleration carried him into an area where defenders were suddenly making challenges from difficult positions.

He continued to torment Viking after the interval. Around 56 minutes, he burst past Heggheim and found Buendía at the near post, where the Argentine attempted an inventive backheel that Østbø managed to save. Shortly afterwards, another run took Alysson clear of the defensive line, although his finish drifted wide.

By then Viking had begun advancing more players, and the space available beyond their defence was increasing.

Villa’s third goal came from a particularly effective use of that space. Alysson chased a forward pass into the right channel, accelerated beyond Jesper Daland and drove the ball across goal. Heggheim, desperately recovering, diverted the delivery beyond Østbø.

The own goal was unfortunate for the defender, but the movement that produced it was outstanding. Alysson had reached the space behind Viking’s defence quickly enough to force a hurried intervention, and the pace of his delivery made it extremely difficult to clear.

That was the difference he offered throughout the evening. Villa have sometimes struggled against compact opponents because possession becomes too comfortable for the defenders facing them. Alysson gave the next pass an immediate threat, forcing opponents to turn and run instead of remaining in the positions they had worked so carefully to establish.

His performance was also noticeably more composed than some of his earlier appearances. There were unsuccessful finishes and occasional rushed decisions, but he increasingly recognised when to release possession after his initial run. The combination with Buendía early in the second half was particularly encouraging in that respect.

Emery praised Alysson afterwards while emphasising the improvements still required in his defensive work and positional understanding. Those demands will become greater against opponents capable of exploiting the space he leaves behind. For now, the attacking qualities are becoming increasingly difficult to overlook.

With Mbaye developing on the opposite side, Villa have two young wingers capable of stretching opponents in ways that were largely missing from their game earlier in the season. Their individual styles differ, with Mbaye increasingly comfortable combining and delivering from wider areas, while Alysson’s greatest strength remains his ability to attack space at speed.

Viking’s response tested the other side of Emery’s plan

The opening half had been almost entirely one-sided, but Viking returned after the break with greater ambition.

Their midfielders began advancing earlier, allowing them to retain possession further up the pitch and bring Christiansen and Erik Botheim into more meaningful positions. Tobias Moi tested Suzuki shortly after the restart, and Villa increasingly had to defend passages that had barely existed before half-time.

The contrast was considerable. Viking enjoyed 56% of second-half possession and registered nine shots after managing only one during the opening period. Their expected goals rose from 0.02 before half-time to approximately 0.73 afterwards.

The increased pressure also revealed where Emery’s selection was more vulnerable. McGinn and Barkley had been excellent when Villa dominated the ball, but Viking’s willingness to attack through midfield gave them more defensive responsibilities. Without Kamara operating underneath possession, the distances between Villa’s midfielders and back line occasionally became more difficult to manage.

Gomes and Mings also faced a different examination. Viking’s greater attacking presence meant Gomes could not advance quite as freely, while Mings had more defending to do on Villa’s left. The arrangement had been effective in supplying attacking players, but its defensive demands were becoming clearer.

Emery began changing personnel after the third goal, introducing Cash, Goretzka and Abraham for Gomes, Barkley and Jackson. Garnacho and George Hemmings subsequently replaced Mbaye and Alysson, allowing Villa to distribute minutes across a squad already dealing with a demanding schedule.

The changes inevitably altered some of the passing relationships that had made Villa so dangerous, although the game was already comfortably in their favour. Viking continued to press forward and eventually found a goal of real quality when Kristoffer Askildsen’s cross was met by Christiansen, whose superb left-footed volley flew beyond Suzuki after 84 minutes.

It was an impressive finish, but Villa will be disappointed that Viking had been able to construct the opportunity. The concession also cost them outright first place in the Champions League league-phase table, leaving Emery’s side level on points with Paris Saint-Germain.

There were positives at the back despite that late goal. Pau and Lindelöf completed 67 of 71 and 68 of 70 passes respectively, with Lindelöf adding eight clearances.

The match offered Emery an unusually clear view of both the benefits and limitations of his attacking arrangement. During the opening hour, Villa repeatedly moved Viking out of the positions in which they had been so effective against Bayern. Once the Norwegians began attacking with greater conviction, the defensive demands on Villa’s midfield and wide players increased.

For Emery, the victory was particularly encouraging because Villa were able to produce such an accomplished attacking performance without Kamara or Manzambi. Different personnel brought different qualities, and the team found ways of using them effectively against opponents who had demonstrated considerable defensive discipline only a week earlier.

Alysson will rightly receive much of the attention, but the wider significance lies in how effectively his qualities were integrated into the team’s attacking play. Three Champions League victories from three, achieved with changing personnel and different attacking combinations, have given Villa a strong European platform.