Aston Villa returned to the scene of their 1982 European Cup final victory to defeat Robin van Persie’s Feyenoord 2-0, with a pair of second-half strikes continuing the Villans’ perfect start to the UEFA Europa League (UEL) campaign.
Key stats
- Since they returned to major European competition in 2023/24, only Real Madrid (19), PSG (18) and Bayern Munich (17) have won more games in those competitions than Aston Villa (16)
- Feyenoord have yet to score in the Europa League this season
- Ezri Konsa attempted 86 passes in this game, the highest total for an Aston Villa player in the 2025/2026 UEFA Europa League
Highlights
Analysis
Emiliano Buendia earned an 8.3 Flashscore player rating - the highest for an outfield player in the match.
Aston Villa were under pressure for large chunks but did enough to secure the victory.
Match report
Villa’s confidence had been growing after wins against Bologna and Fulham, but they were hit with a flurry of attacks from the home side on their return to De Kuip. Sem Steijn was particularly dangerous for Feyenoord, while Anis Hadj Moussa tested Marco Bizot at his near post.
But Villa weathered the storm, and were nearly granted with a man advantage when Anel Ahmedhodžić took out Ollie Watkins when through on goal, but referee Rade Obrenovič stuck with his original decision of a yellow card after a VAR review.
Moments later, Watkins rounded Timon Wellenreuther but saw his shot booted off the line by a retreating defender.
Feyenoord responded with vigour and had a spell of total dominance, resulting in both Steijn and Ayase Ueda calling Bizot into important saves.
More controversy followed when Ueda’s header was ruled out for a foul in the build-up, before Luciano Valente’s powerful drive was tipped over by the Villa stopper to somehow keep it goalless at the break.
Feyenoord remained dangerous after the restart and had numerous openings, but it was Evann Guessand who instead went closest yet to opening the scoring, striking the outside of the post after Ian Maatsen crossed in.
Villa used that as a springboard to have their best spell of the game, and they were handsomely rewarded just after the hour mark.
Boubacar Kamara laid it off for Emiliano Buendía on the edge of the area, and the Argentinian beautifully swept his right-footed finish into the far corner.
The visitors prepared to hold onto their lead, but substitute Donyell Malen had other ideas.
He turned his man and was tackled as he surged into the area, but John McGinn picked up the pieces to slot in his side’s second.
Villa weren’t troubled from there, and held on to secure victory in their first-ever meeting with Feyenoord.
Van Persie doesn’t quite have the European pedigree as manager that Unai Emery does, and must now find a way to turn things around after two defeats from two in the UEL this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marco Bizot (Aston Villa)
Post-match comments
Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot to TNT Sports:
"It's a massive victory. I've played here in my career many times and I can count the amount on one hand that we have taken a victory. This is a massive victory for Villa, so I'm happy.
"It has been difficult in the beginning of the season but we never lost the faith and hope. We still have the spirit, even when it was not that great at the beginning.
"Now, hopefully, we can keep this up. We are playing better, the team has confidence and we're scoring goals and that's the most important thing."
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery to TNT Sports:
"My expectation was more or less tough like the match was. We were ready to compete. The test we had today was a fantastic test.
"They had chances in the first half, their goalkeeper was fantastic. Second half we changed a little bit and dominated more.
"We were getting confidence and it was a fantastic win. I am so proud of how the players responded on the field."