BRUGES, Belgium: A strange penalty for handball ended Aston Villa’s winning run in the Champions League on Wednesday as the English team lost 1-0 at Club Brugge.
In the other early game, Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov had a fine assist and an even better goal in a 2-1 win for the Ukrainian champion against Young Boys.
Villa had led the 36-team Champions League standings after three straight wins without conceding a goal — and they took a bizarre incident before goalkeeper Emi Martínez was eventually beaten.
Villa defender Tyrone Mings was punished for picking up the ball when Martínez seemed to restart play with a goal kick passed short to his teammate.
Mings walked forward a couple steps to gather the ball with his left hand and returned to place it at the corner of the six-yard box.
The penalty kick was awarded and Brugge captain Hans Vanaken scored in the 52nd minute, placing the ball to Martínez’s left as the World Cup-winning Argentina goalkeeper dived to his right.
Martínez tried to persuade German referee Tobias Stieler after the game that he had made a mistake.
The loss leaves Villa in fifth place in the standings now led by Liverpool, with Inter Milan, Arsenal and Brest all able to rise above coach Unai Emery’s team with a win later Wednesday. Inter were hosting Arsenal at San Siro.
Club Brugge have six points, from two wins and two losses and were provisionally in 20th place, which after all eight rounds in January would earn a place in the knockout playoffs round.
Shakhtar’s Sudakov showed against Young Boys why he is expected to be the club’s next big-money sale.
Both teams came into the game without scoring a goal in the first three rounds of the new league phase format.
Swiss champion Young Boys are struggling in 10th place in their domestic title defense and took an unexpected lead in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, where Shakhtar are playing their Champions League home games during the military invasion by Russia.
After the Shakhtar defense was caught in the 27th minute playing short passes deep in their own half, Kastriot Imeri struck with a low shot from the edge of the penalty area.
Shakhtar was level four minutes later when Sudakov’s precise pass into the goalmouth eluded a circle of five Young Boys players to find Oleksandr Zubkov for a tap-in.
Sudakov cleverly created space in the 41st to stride forward and fire a low shot from 20 yards (meters) into the far corner of the net past diving goalkeeper Marvin Keller.
Shakhtar are outside the playoff places in 26th, with four points, and Young Boys is 35th and among six teams with zero points.
Bizarre penalty sends Aston Villa to first Champions League loss at Brugge
https://arab.news/yyujx
Bizarre penalty sends Aston Villa to first Champions League loss at Brugge
- Villa had led the 36-team Champions League standings after three straight wins without conceding a goal
- The loss leaves Villa in fifth place in the standings now led by Liverpool
Desert Vipers eliminate Sharjah Warriorz with 5-wicket win to close ILT20 group stage
- The result confirmed the Vipers’ place at the top end of the table, while leaving either Abu Dhabi Knight Riders or Gulf Giants to claim the final playoff berth
SHARJAH: Desert Vipers ended the Sharjah Warriorz’ playoff hopes with a five-wicket victory in their final International League T20 group-stage match at Sharjah Cricket Stadium, becoming the first team to win eight games in a single group phase.
The result confirmed the Vipers’ place at the top end of the table, while leaving either Abu Dhabi Knight Riders or Gulf Giants to claim the final playoff berth when they meet in the last league fixture on Sunday.
The winner of Saturday’s clash between MI Emirates and Dubai Capitals will finish in the top two.
After being sent in the Warriorz were restricted to 140 for seven, with Naseem Shah and Qais Ahmad leading a disciplined bowling effort. Naseem finished with three wickets, while early strikes from David Payne and Khuzaima Tanveer left the hosts reeling at 6 for two.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Johnson Charles rebuilt through the powerplay, adding 61 runs for the third wicket, but the innings lost momentum once Kohler-Cadmore was bowled by Naseem in the 10th over.
Qais then struck twice in quick succession, dismissing Charles for 43 and removing captain Sikandar Raza for a golden duck, reducing the Warriorz to 79 for five.
James Rew and Ryan Burl attempted to stabilize the innings, but the Vipers closed strongly, with Naseem striking again late on to ensure the Warriorz failed to reach a competitive total.
The chase began shakily as Raza and Richard Ngarava reduced the Vipers to 28 for two inside the powerplay, removing Fakhar Zaman and Andries Gous.
Max Holden and Sam Curran steadied the innings with a measured 64-run partnership, absorbing pressure before gradually lifting the run rate.
Harmeet Singh briefly revived the Warriorz’ hopes with wickets in the middle overs, including Curran and later Dan Lawrence and Jason Roy, but Holden remained composed throughout.
His unbeaten 66 from 46 balls anchored the chase, before Hasan Nawaz’s brisk 25 from 14 deliveries ensured the Vipers crossed the line with overs to spare.
Vipers captain Curran said the win was an ideal way to close the group stage.
“It was really pleasing to get a win heading into the qualifier. We adjusted to the conditions very well. Max played a superb innings, and Hasan finished it off nicely with some big strikes at the end. We’ve had a fantastic season overall, winning eight out of ten matches,” he said.
Sharjah Warriorz skipper Raza reflected on a disappointing campaign, saying: “Pretty much everything that could go wrong for us did go wrong this season. Had we played those key moments slightly better in a few of our games, we would have qualified already.
“On these wickets, 150 was a competitive total and we rarely got there, which is the most painful part.”
