Fenerbahçe 0-1 Aston Villa

Jadon Sancho’s maiden goal for Aston Villa clinched a superb 1-0 victory at Fenerbahçe in the UEFA Europa League.

Sancho picked the perfect moment to find the net for the first time in Villa colours as he headed home Matty Cash’s cross in the 25^th minute.

The matchwinner was reward for an excellent Villa display amid a fervent atmosphere at Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

Unai Emery’s side went close on a host of occasions, Cash’s long-range strike hitting a post in the second half, while the visitors also saw an effort ruled out for offside by VAR.

Fenerbahçe applied plenty of pressure in the latter stages in search of a leveller, Marco Bizot making super saves to deny substitute Talisca and Ismail Yuksek in a captivating encounter.

Kerem Akturkoglu also saw his strike ruled out for the hosts following a review, as the Villans held firm to return to winning ways in truly impressive style in Turkey.

The Matchday 7 victory, the club’s penultimate fixture of the league phase, puts second-placed Villa in a strong position to secure a top-eight spot and a route through to the last 16 of the European competition.

Fit-again Tyrone Mings returned to wear the captain’s armband, making his first appearance since early November, while Bizot was also named in Villa’s line-up, with both John McGinn and Emi Martínez ruled out.

The duo were two of five changes from last weekend’s Premier League defeat against Everton, as Sancho, Victor Lindelöf and Lucas Digne were also recalled to Villa’s starting XI.

Boss Emery was taking charge of his 100th match in the European competition since 2009/10, becoming the first manager to reach the landmark milestone.

Fenerbahçe, meanwhile, included former Villans Marco Asensio and Jhon Durán in their side.

Both sides emerged to a cauldron of noise inside the 50,000-capacity stadium on the Asia side of the Bosphorus Strait.

Mings headed over early on from a Youri Tielemans corner as Villa made a promising start, creating plenty of attacking openings.

Ollie Watkins saw his header cleared to safety from another Tielemans corner as the visitors continued to pose a threat, and they got their reward midway through the first half.

Cash’s right-wing cross was inadvertently flicked on by Ismail Yuksek into the danger zone and Sancho was on hand to head past Ederson from six yards.

Ismail Yuksek made amends in the 38^th minute as he made a challenge to deny Watkins when clean through.

Villa were causing all kinds of problems going forward and another swift break saw Sancho round Ederson, before being thwarted by the back-tracking Milan Skriniar, with Morgan Rogers putting the rebound into the net only to be denied by the referee.

Villa came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half chasing a crucial second goal, Sancho seeing his strike blocked by Nelson Semedo before Mings drilled the rebound off target.

Emi Buendía and Sancho, again, threatened shortly afterwards, before Bizot made a superb stop to deny Fenerbahçe substitute Talisca in the 60^th minute.

A thrilling encounter became end-to-end and Cash rifled a 30-yard strike against the base of a post.

The Villans thought they had doubled their advantage in the 65^th minute as Ismail Yuksek bundled into his own net from close range, before the strike was ruled out following a review.

The Yellow Canaries were now applying pressure of their own and Bizot was called upon to save well from Ismail Yuksek.

The Turkish giants thought they had levelled through Kerem Akturkoglu in the 75^th minute, converting the rebound after Bizot had initially saved his effort, only to be denied themselves by a VAR review.

And, in the first meeting between the two sides since 1977, Villa stood firm to claim a hard-fought three points in their quest for the knockout stages of the Europa League.