A late stunner from Jhon Duran saw Aston Villa secure a shock 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League at Villa Park.
Eleven minutes into the game, the Colombian attacker beat Manuel Neuer off his line to give Villa their first Champions League victory in forty-one years.
Since Vincent Kompany came over, Bayern had not lost and were scoring goals at will when they went to Villa Park.
However, Unai Emery’s strategy hampered the visitors, and they were caught off guard when Duran pounced on a long pass from Pau Torres and shot over Neuer from a distance.
Among the more than 40,000 supporters of Villa who encouraged Emery’s team to ignore the huge disparity in Champions League experience between the two teams was Prince William.
Among those who congratulated Emery in a meeting following the game was the future King of Britain.
Villa was mired in the English football second division just five years ago, but since the Spaniard took over less than two years ago, they have had a phenomenal ascent.
Villa supporters were looking forward to a glamorous match, and they did not let them down, especially after the team easily defeated Young Boys 3-0 in Switzerland two weeks prior.
Harry Kane recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of the game late in Bayern’s 1-1 tie with Bayer Leverkusen, the Bundesliga champions, over the weekend.
In their first seven games under Kompany, Bayern had averaged more than four goals per game, including a 9-2 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb to start their Champions League campaign.
They controlled possession of the ball in the early going, but Emi Martinez made a great save on Kane’s header from an offside position, which was the closest they got to breaching Emery’s well-prepared defence.
Midway through the first half, Torres gave Villa the opportunity to score when he nudged the ball in at the back post following a free kick.
However, Villa’s joyous celebrations were cut short when it was discovered that Jacob Ramsey had strayed offside during the build-up.
Another star from Bayern returning to England was Michael Olise, a former Crystal Palace winger who Martinez’s incredible save just before halftime kept him from scoring.
Surprisingly, Kompany had kept German international Jamal Musiala off the pitch; yet, during halftime, the player was called upon to contribute.
At the hour, Musiala came dangerously close to breaking through the Villa defence, but Torres stopped his attempt.
Rather, the game-winning substitution came from Villa’s own super sub.
Duran has scored five goals this season while playing as a substitute.
In order to keep Dayot Upamecano at bay and hoist the ball over the helpless Neuer, the 20-year-old displayed his muscle.
To complete a historic victory, Villa still required crucial saves from their own custodian.
The home team’s defence was eventually breached by Musiala’s ball, but Serge Gnabry was unable to overcome Martinez.
Deep into stoppage time, the Argentine made an even better save to tip Kane’s header over.
