Aston Villa secured their place in the Europa League last 16 after Jadon Sancho's first-half header earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Fenerbahce in Istanbul on Thursday. The win guarantees Unai Emery's side a top-eight finish in the league phase, meaning they bypass the playoff round entirely.
Sancho nodded beyond former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson in the 25th minute after Matty Cash's right-wing cross deflected off Jayden Oosterwolde and fell kindly for the England international. It was Sancho's first goal for Villa since joining on loan from Manchester United, making him only the third Englishman to score in a major European competition in each of the last eight seasons, joining Phil Foden and Harry Kane.
The victory came on a landmark night for manager Unai Emery, who became the first coach in history to oversee 100 games in the Europa League, a competition he has won a record four times. The Spaniard's tactical nous was evident as Villa weathered significant pressure from the Turkish giants in front of 41,414 passionate fans at Sukru Saracoglu Stadium.
Drama unfolded throughout the second half as Fenerbahce thought they had equalized when Kerem Akturkoglu's 75th-minute strike sent the home fans wild. However, VAR intervened to rule the goal offside after detecting an infringement by former Villa striker Jhon Duran in the build-up. Marco Bizot produced several superb saves to keep Fenerbahce at bay while Cash struck the post at the other end.
Tension boiled over in the closing stages when Emery clashed with midfielder Youri Tielemans as he was substituted. The head coach pushed the otherwise impressive Belgian and refused to shake his hand as Tielemans exchanged words on the way past. Villa now sit on 18 points from seven games with automatic qualification confirmed ahead of their final league phase fixture.
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