Ajax and Aston Villa reduced to ten as Villans break unwanted record against fighters
ASTON VILLA became the first club to fail to score in Amsterdam as Ajax scored their first clean sheet of the season in Europe.
However, Unai Emery’s men will be confident they can get the job done at Villa Park on Thursday.
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The Villa boss was confident enough to leave out five of the squad that won at Luton this weekend as he kept an eye on Sunday’s crucial clash with Tottenham.
And apart from a late scare when Chuba Akpom scored a free header in front of goal, Villa spent most of the night in cruise control.
The only negative was a late red card for Ezri Konsa, which ruled him out of the second leg, along with Ajax’s Tristan Gooijer, who also fouled card-happy Albanian ref Enea Jorgji.
Ajax fans celebrated as if they had won at the final whistle, but face a huge task in beating Villa on home soil.
The once-mighty Dutch giants have endured a nightmare season that has seen their team plummet to the bottom of the Eredivisie after eight games.
In December they crashed out of the Dutch Cup against lowly amateurs USV Hercules – the first time they had ever lost to a bunch of amateurs.
Those disasters prompted the fallen giants to sack head coach Maurice Steijn and replace him with John van Schip, who managed to turn around their fortunes with a twelve-match unbeaten run.
Yet the four-time European champions finished in joint fifth place, 27 points behind Eredivisie pacesetters PSV Eindhoven.
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Ironically, Villa found themselves in a sea of white flags being waved by Ajax fans, but instead of surrendering, the home support stood right behind their team.
They turned the atmosphere up to 11 as the disco lights flickered to life and chaos ensued as sound bombs sounded and flames shot into the night sky.
But at the park it was all pretty tame.
Moussa Diaby got Villa off to a positive start by firing in a left-foot shot after five minutes, which Diant Ramaj comfortably saved.
But that turned out to be the only shot on target from either side during a cagey first half.
The young Ajax – with an average age of less than 22 years – was completely misled by Villa’s well-oiled offside trap.
Croatian wideman Borna Sosa and striker Brian Brobbey were continually caught up in their frustration.
Ajax captain Jordan Henderson did his best to take the lead from the front, but he allowed his lines to be muddied when he was awarded a free-kick in a good position, causing his effort to curl high.
But gradually Ajax’s self-confidence started to grow and they should have taken the lead just after the half hour.
Eighteen-year-old defender Jorrel Hato sent Brobbey clear from Villa’s defense.
But as he prepared to pull the trigger, Ezri Konsa shoved him with both hands, throwing the striker off balance and sending his shot into the side netting.
It was a huge letdown for Villa and Emery responded by bringing on Matty Cash for Pau Torres at half-time and putting Konsa at the heart of the defence.
But the really important changes happened just after the hour mark when Emery sent in his big guns.
Skipper John McGinn and Leon Bailey replaced Diaby and youngster Morgan Rogers as Villa stepped up a gear.
Ramaj reacted sharply to prevent Douglas Luiz’s inswinging corner from sneaking in at his near post.
Emi Martinez then came to Villa’s rescue when he was finally called into action for the first time after 67 minutes.
Kenneth Taylor played 1-2 with Sosa and shot in, but Martinez threw himself to the right to parry the ball away brilliantly.
It was a huge moment that seemed to suck the spirit out of Ajax’s youngsters.
However, they were briefly given hope when Albanian referee Enea Jorgji controversially sent off Konsa, who had become involved in an arm wrestle with sub Chuba Akpom.
The former Middlesbrough striker hit the turf and Jorgji picked up his yellow card, followed by a red to take the defender out of the return.
If that seemed harsh, Jorgji soon leveled it by handing out a second yellow card to teenager Tristan Gooijer, who also saw red for a couple of innocent fouls on Digne and then Zaniolo.