Jadon Sancho scored his first Aston Villa goal as Unai Emery’s side claimed a 1-0 win away to Fenerbahce, sealing a place in the Europa League last 16 with one match still to play.
Villa needed only a point in Istanbul to guarantee a top-eight finish and approached the contest with control in a hostile environment.
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The breakthrough arrived after 25 minutes when a deflected Matty Cash delivery fell to Sancho, who headed past Ederson from close range.
Villa had chances to extend their lead before half-time. Sancho rounded the goalkeeper after being played in by Morgan Rogers, but Milan Skriniar cleared his effort off the line, while Rogers then had a follow-up ruled out after the ball struck the referee.
Fenerbahce improved after the break and substitute Anderson Talisca twice tested Marco Bizot, while Cash struck the post from distance.
The hosts thought they had levelled late on through Kerem Akturkoglu, but VAR ruled out the goal for offside against Jhon Durán in the build-up.
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Villa withstood late pressure to secure their sixth win from seven league-phase matches, confirming direct passage into the knockout stages.
Incidents: The story of the match
1′:
The match begins
6′:
Missed opportunity! Tyrone Mings of Aston Villa heads the ball from the center of the box, narrowly missing the target. The assist came from Youri Tielemans, who delivered a cross following a corner kick.
17′:
Opportunity wasted. Emiliano Buendía from Aston Villa attempted a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it sailed high and to the right of the goal.
17′:
Opportunity wasted. Emiliano Buendía from Aston Villa takes a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it goes over the bar and to the right.
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17′:
Opportunity wasted. Emiliano Buendía from Aston Villa took a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it sailed over the bar and to the right.
Fenerbahce 0, Aston Villa 1. Jadon Sancho from Aston Villa scores with a header from the center of the penalty area, directing it into the bottom right corner.Fenerbahce 0, Aston Villa 1. Jadon Sancho scores for Aston Villa with a header from the center of the box, directing it into the bottom right corner.
25′:
GOAL Aston Villa: Jadon Sancho (Aston Villa) scores!
Jadon Sancho scores goal number 1 in the competition (6 matches)
33′:
Missed opportunity! Fred from Fenerbahce takes a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it sails over the goal. The assist came from Nélson Semedo.
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46′:
Missed opportunity. Tyrone Mings from Aston Villa attempted a left-footed shot from the center of the box but failed to find the target.
68′:
Missed opportunity! Talisca from Fenerbahce took a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it went wide. The assist came from Marco Asensio.
80′:
Opportunity wasted. Edson Álvarez from Fenerbahce attempted a right-footed shot from outside the penalty area, but it went wide to the left.
87′:
Missed opportunity! Ian Maatsen from Aston Villa attempted a left-footed shot from the left side of the penalty area but failed to find the target. The chance was set up by Ollie Watkins during a quick counterattack.
998′:
The referee whistles for the end of the match
