Aston Villa’s perfect record in the Europa League looked set to continue after they took the lead against Go Ahead Eagles, but the Dutch side battled back to claim a shock victory.

Evann Guessand scored his first goal for the club, and Ollie Watkins should have doubled the lead, while Emi Buendia also missed his first opportunity of the night. Guessand really should have extended both his tally and Villa’s before half-time, and the hosts made them pay for missing chance after chance.

Mathis Suray beat Villa’s offside line to score the equaliser, before Mats Deijl completed the comeback, running off Ian Maatsen and behind Pau Torres to finish beyond Emi Martinez.

This defeat, as disappointing as it was, won’t define how far Villa will go in this competition, or whether they ultimately win it. With arguably the best squad, depth, and manager, that has to be the aim.

As we saw tonight, it’s not as simple as turning up and taking three points just because Villa are favourites. If Villa had played to their level, they likely would have won...