Unai Emery has expressed his disbelief and frustration over Tyrone Mings’ costly handball mistake. He insists that Aston Villa “will never repeat” the setback they suffered against Club Brugge in their Champions League campaign.
The Villa manager was incensed after Mings’ error led to a penalty for Brugge early in the second half, derailing his side’s hopes of a fourth consecutive win in the competition. Villa had been in control before the blunder, but Mings’ unintentional handball following a goal kick from goalkeeper Emi Martinez gifted Brugge a route back into the match.
Emery, visibly upset by the lapse, said: “This mistake will never happen again, I think never in my life, never again. We work hard to control games by keeping possession, and we were always in a position to recover. But this is a very strange mistake.”
The penalty, awarded in the 52nd minute, allowed Brugge to take the lead and put Villa on the back foot. Mings, already booked for an earlier elbow, risked dismissal if the referee judged the handball deliberate. Villa defender Ezri Konsa argued that if the handball had been intentional, Mings should have been sent off, which could have further altered the outcome.
Konsa stated: “I didn’t see it, but I saw their players running towards the ref saying: ‘Handball,’ and who knows? It’s just one of those things. It killed the game. If it’s a deliberate handball and he’s on a yellow already, why didn’t he send him off? It’s a mistake, but there’s nothing we can do now. We’ve got to move on.”
Brugge manager Nicky Hayen acknowledged the penalty decision, saying, “For sure it was a penalty, we knew it immediately. He took the ball and pushed it back. In the end, it was a penalty. But if we had to concede something like that, it would have been very sour. It’s a small present that we will take gladly.”
The penalty proved to be a turning point, as Brugge held onto their lead and secured a crucial victory, leaving Villa disappointed and deflated after a promising start in Europe’s premier competition.
