Basel 1–2 Aston Villa: Youri Tielemans’ strike ends Swiss side’s 10-year Europa League home run | OneFootball

Aston Villa registered a 2-1 victory at Basel in the Europa League on Thursday, securing at least a play-off spot as a result.

Evann Guessand opened the scoring in the 12th minute, striking a low shot into the bottom corner.

Basel thought they had drawn level before the half-hour mark. Philip Otele headed the ball down to Leo Leroy to smash the ball into the net, but the effort was ruled out for offside.

The hosts equalised in the 35th minute. Xherdan Shaqiri picked out Flavius Daniliuc inside the area, and he dinked the ball over Marco Bizot to make it 1-1.

Shaqiri almost orchestrated another goal for Basel before half-time, crossing to Benie Traore, but Bizot prevented him from scoring with a brilliant save.

Youri Tielemans replaced Matty Cash at half-time, and he made an immediate impact by restoring Villa’s lead with a side-footed finish.

Guessand should have given the Villans a two-goal cushion after receiving a pass from Jadon Sancho, but he fired his shot over the bar.

A mistake from Sancho almost gifted Basel the equaliser. He lost possession, allowing Otele to aim for the goal. His shot was blocked, and Metinho blasted the rebound over the post.

Otele squandered a chance to make it 2-2 late on, heading Dominik Schmid’s over the post.

This was Basel’s first home defeat in the Europa League since 2015.