Emery regrets missed penalty: Aston Villa falls to Go Ahead Eagles in Europa League

Unai Emery demands greater effectiveness from the penalty spot after Aston Villa defeat

Aston Villa coach Unai Emery has expressed the need for his team to improve their effectiveness from the penalty spot, after the surprising defeat in the Europa League against Go Ahead Eagles, a Dutch team. Aston Villa, who had taken the lead, suffered a 2-1 defeat in Deventer, with a penalty missed by Emiliano Buendía in the final minutes. Evann Guessand put the team ahead in the competition, but they wasted clear opportunities to extend their lead. Goals from Mathis Suray and Mats Deijl gave the victory to Go Ahead Eagles.

• Buendía missed a crucial penalty in the 77th minute.
• Aston Villa have missed six penalties in the last 12 months.

Buendía’s penalty miss from the eleven meters added to a worrying statistic for the team, which has missed six penalties in the last year. Ollie Watkins also missed a penalty against Bologna at the beginning of the season, and the team lost a penalty shootout against Brentford in the Carabao Cup last month.

Today the responsibility was Emiliano Buendía’s. He usually has good numbers in penalties, but he missed.

Unai Emery

Emery pointed out that, although Buendía is one of the usual penalty takers, the team will seek to improve its effectiveness in this aspect of the game. The coach also mentioned other players who could take responsibility for penalties, such as Jadon Sancho, John McGinn, and Morgan Rogers.

Emery downplayed the defeat, arguing that it is part of the experience in European football. He highlighted the difficulty of playing away from home and the unpredictability of the sport.

Today he showed us how difficult it is to play in Europe, to play away from home. This is the reason why I love football, because football has many different ways of winning.

Unai Emery

Go Ahead Eagles coach Mats Deijl highlighted the historical importance of the victory for the club, which has had great achievements in recent years.