Unai emery singles out villa star for big praise after 3-1 win at club brugge

UNAI EMERY SINGLED OUT TYRONE MINGS FOR PRAISE AFTER HIS KEY CONTRIBUTONS IN THE WIN OVER CLUB BRUGGE AT THE JAN BREYDEL STADIUM 20:50, 04 Mar 2025Updated 20:51, 04 Mar 2025 Unai Emery has

praised Tyrone Mings’ colossal display in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win over Club Brugge in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie. The centre-back assisted Leon Bailey’s opening

goal in the first 135 seconds of the game, before making a crucial intervention to prevent Hans Vanaken from putting Brugge in the lead in the second half. Soon after Mings flicked Vanaken’s

header wide of the far post, Villa went ahead when Morgan Rogers’ cross from the right was turned into his own net by Brandon Mechele. Then, after Matty Cash won a penalty late on, Marco

Asensio scored his fifth goal in four matches by converting from the penalty spot. "It was like we planned," Emery said of Villa’s performance. "My expectation was to face the

difficulties we had. "We had respect and tried to adapt to them more than usual like I’d want. After the analysis we did of the match in November, they have a very good structure with

the ball. "We decided to respect them when they had the ball, keeping good positioning. The most important thing was how we competed in the match, set-pieces and the first goal.

"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. "How the substitutes responded in the last 30 minutes of the first leg, keeping the same game plan [was good]. "There are still 90 minutes to play. They

won against Atalanta 3-1 and they compete very well." READ MORE: Club Brugge v Aston Villa in pictures "We need to watch the match again with the players to understand the

difficulties we can face against teams in Europe. I am happy, but calm, getting balance. There are still 90 minutes to play." Speaking of Mings, Emery added: “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. We are demanding

inside. Every player has to be demanding with themselves. "I know the difficulties of football and how we can get experiences and get better, this is my only target with the players.

Article continues below "We corrected some things from the match we played here [in November]. Of course, we have to correct some things we didn’t work well today for the next match

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