Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 to maintain perfect Champions League record

Aston Villa continued their flawless start to their UEFA Champions League campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Norwegian outfit Viking at Villa Park on Wednesday night.​ According to a report by The Irish News, Unai Emery’s side secured their fifth win in six matches across all competitions, climbing to second place in the Champions League standings after three rounds.​

Viking, who achieved a dramatic 3-3 draw against Bayern Munich a week earlier, were unable to repeat their heroics against a sharp Villa side coming off a 6-0 thrashing of Fenerbahce.​ Villa’s relentless early pressure paid off when Ross Barkley met Ibrahim Mbaye’s perfectly weighted corner to head the hosts in front, marking his third goal of the European campaign.

Emi Buendia doubled the advantage before half-time, coolly converting a penalty awarded after a VAR check spotted Zlatko Tripic’s foul on Alysson inside the box. ​The Premier League side sealed the three points after the hour mark when Alysson’s dangerous cross took a deflection off Viking defender Henrik Heggheim and turned into his own net.​

Although Viking’s Peter Christiansen pulled a goal back six minutes from time with a ferocious volley from Kristoffer Askildsen’s cross—denying Villa a third consecutive European clean sheet—Emery’s men controlled the remaining minutes to close out a convincing victory.