Aston Villa have given themselves a terrific advantage to take to Birmingham for the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie with Club Brugge.
Unai Emery’s team have one foot in the quarter-finals after travelling to Belgium to secure a 3-1 win on Tuesday night, thanks to goals from Leon Bailey and Marco Asensio, either side of an own goal from Brandon Mechele.
There were a number of excellent performances across the park for the Villans and one of those who stood out in Belgium was attacking midfielder Morgan Rogers.
Morgan Rogers' performance against Club Brugge
The England international caught the eye in this Champions League clash with an impressive showing in and out of possession throughout the 90 minutes.
Rogers needed to put hard work in off the ball to deal with the constant runs made by the Club Brugge midfield, and he stepped up to make three tackles for the team, whilst only being dribbled past once.
The former Manchester City academy star did not officially register any key passes or assists, but he did directly contribute to the goal that put Villa 2-1 up, as it was his brilliant cross into the box that forced Mechele to convert into his own net.
Along with his ‘assist’, of sorts, Rogers also completed two of his four attempted dribbles. However, it was not a perfect performance from the midfield star, as he failed to register any attempts on goal and did lose eight of his 14 duels with Club Brugge players.
There was a Villa player who was even better than the former Middlesbrough man on the night in Belgium, as central defender Tyrone Mings put in a display that may have just saved his career at the club.
Tyrone Mings may have saved his Aston Villa career
The left-footed defender only returned from an ACL injury that kept him out for 70 matches in October of last year, and he has only started seven times in the Premier League so far this season.
Mings had a nightmare when he played against Brugge in the league phase of the Champions League. He lost four of his five duels and gave a ridiculous penalty away by picking the ball up after Emi Martinez passed it to him from a goal kick situation.
After that showing, you could forgive the England international for wondering what the future may have in store for him at Villa Park, even more so when he was an unused substitute against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Chalkboard
Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.
However, Mings has just proven that he still has what it takes to be a big player for the club moving forward with a huge display against Club Brugge, earning an 8/10 player rating from the Express.
Minutes
90
Pass accuracy
84%
Clearances
7
Dribbled past
0x
Duels won
3/3
As you can see in the table above, the former Bournemouth titan was a dominant force at the heart of the Villa defence, winning 100% of his duels without being dribbled past a single time.
He also made a remarkable clearance off the line with the score at 1-1 to stop the hosts from taking the lead.
Hans Vanaken’s header seemed destined to find the far corner only for the Villans skipper to sensationally lift his boot up to divert it away with his stud – a touch so deft that the officials did not even register it and award a corner to the opposition.
TNT commentator Ally McCoist said it was “one of the best clearances I’ve seen in a long time” and Darren Fletcher added that all the “momentum” would have been with Club Brugge in front of the home crowd if it had gone in.
Emery knows that he can trust the English colossus to step up and lead from the back for Villa on the biggest stage, and that may have just saved his career under the Spaniard after his recent struggles with form and fitness.
Aston Villa plotting summer swoop to sign "agile" star who pocketed Rogers
He gave Rogers a torrid time…
1 ByTom CunninghamMar 2, 2025
