ZHAKE
Aston Villa had yet another famous night away in Europe, but without Tyrone Mings, things could have been very, very different.
Unai Emery’s side recorded a famous 3-1 win at Club Brugge, with two goals in the last ten minutes giving them a huge advantage ahead of the return leg at Villa Park.
Before that, though, they’d gone ahead through Leon Bailey, with Mings setting the Jamaican up with a glorious leap and headed lay-off in the box.
Maxim De Cuyper equalised for the hosts, and they should have gone ahead if it wasn’t for some astonishing defending.
Former Norwich man Christos Tzolis whipped a world class cross into the box and Hans Vanaken sent the ball back across goal and inside the far post.
Responding on TNT Sports Ally McCoist was in shock, saying: “I think that’s the save of the season by Tyrone Mings… OH! That’s the save of the season. That’s unbelievable!”
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On talkSPORT, his colleague Andy Townsend was in agreement, adding: “Tyrone Mings getting back manages to get the slightest of touches to prevent that from going in, it’s an incredible touch.
“It’s a brilliant bit of defensive work, if he doesn’t touch that it’s going in.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said after the game: “This is the game-changer, the game falls on that moment.”
Adding his thoughts post-match, Emery made sure to pay tribute to the defender, saying: “We competed even more defensively than I wanted. We needed the goalkeeper, Tyrone Mings’ save.
“We can remember the match we played before here with Tyrone. This time he saved a really important action.
“It’s very important to get experiences. The first experience he had here was not good.
“Today, he reacted fantastic, playing focused and serious, saving one action which would have been a goal.”
The Basque coach was referring to a league phase game between the two sides also in Belgium in November.
ZHAKE
Qudus Salihu
