Durán with another stunner to sink RB Leipzig in Germany | OneFootball

Aston Villa all but put themselves in the knock-outs of the Champions League with a well-deserved 2-3 win over RB Leipzig in Germany. The defeat for the Germans sees them become the first team to be eliminated.

The win for Unai Emery’s side put them fourth and with just two games to go, experts believe four points should mean an automatic bye into the last 16 of the competition.

Result: RB Leipzig 2-3 Aston Villa

Emery made just one change from the side that beat Southampton at the weekend as Jhon Durán had to settle for a place on the bench as Ollie Watkins returned to the starting line-up.

The visitors got off to a flying start in Germany, taking the lead inside three minutes. Matty Cash picked up the ball on the right, cut inside onto his left foot, sending in a looping cross to Ollie Watkins who in turn nodded the ball down for John McGinn to fire home leaving Péter Gulácsi no chance in the Leipzig goal.

Villa looked in fine form but the home side were soon back level due to a mistake from Emiliano Martínez. The Argentine allowed the ball to bounce where Loïs Openda was waiting and the goalkeeper could only watch on the Belgian rounded him and slotted home.

Just before the break, Watkins had the ball in the back of the net again for Villa but it was ruled out as it was judged offside in what would prove to be his last involvement in the game.

Durán replaced Watkins at half-time with Emery later stating that thes striker had picked up an injury and it didnt take long for the Columbian to make his mark on the game.

Youri Tielemans found the striker just inside the opposition half, he ran with the ball in aches of space before unleashing a stunning long-range shot that curled into the back of the net.

The hosts only real threat came through exploiting Villa’s high line and their equaliser did just that when Christoph Baumgartner got the final touch to make it 2-2.

Villa deserved all three points for their performance on a whole and they rewarded late on when subsitute Ross Barkley struck from distance and his effort took a wicked deflection to secure all three points for the visitors.

Highlights