A bizarre moment in Brugge has seen Aston Villa lose top spot and their perfect record in the UEFA Champions League, while Ligue 1 side, Brest, continue to make the most of their debut in the competition after notching up a third win after four rounds of matches.
At the Jan Breydel Stadium in Brugge, Villa defender, Tyrone Mings conceded a penalty early in the second half after being adjudged to have handled the ball by the referee.
Mings, making his Champions League debut after just returning from a long injury layoff, picked up the ball after it was kicked to his direction by goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez, as Villa looked to restart play in the game.
The referee pointed to the spot just as the Brugge players protested that a penalty should be given for handball. The decision was confirmed after consulting with the VAR for review, leading to Hans Vanaken giving Brugge a crucial win over Unai Emery’s side.
Meanwhile in Czech Republic, Edmilson Fernandes and a Kaan Kairinen own-goal put Brest 2-0 up at Sparta Praha, with Nigerian forward Victor Olatunji’s stoppage time goal proving a mere consolation for the home side.
The result saw Brest finish Match-day 4 in fourth place with 10 points, two points off the top spot currently occupied by Liverpool who saw off the challenge of Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night.
Elsewhere on Wednesday night, Hakan Calhanoglu’s penalty early in the second half was enough to give Inter Milan a 1-0 win over Arsenal at the San Siro, and Angel Correa scored with virtually the final kick of the game to give Atletico Madrid a 2-1 win at PSG.
Bayern Munich and Shakhtar Donetsk emerged victorious in close encounters against Benfica and Young Boys respectively, while Robert Lewandowski scored twice as Barcelona came away from Serbia with a resounding 5-2 win at Crvena Zvezda.
Check out the full results from Wednesday night’s action in the Champions League.
