Aston Villa pay price for slow start as Wilfried Singo earns Monaco victory
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In the playground of the rich and famous, Aston Villa left Monaco counting the cost of a sluggish start. Prince William and the Villa co-owner, Nassef Sawiris, whose superyacht would not look out of place round the corner at Port Hercules, were among those in attendance. Villa roused but never truly recovered from Wilfried Singo’s early headed goal and their hopes of automatically qualifying for the last 16 will go down to the wire when Celtic visit next week.
![[Jhon Durán takes a tumble during Aston Villa's defeat]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/7d1002441ff5c6907109857e26d0e311bebe07ed/0_198_3493_2096/master/3493.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
An hour before kick-off Unai Emery was serenaded by the Villa supporters stationed under the iconic arches of this stadium on the French Riviera but this was a rare night when his side fell flat, a mirror-image of their result at Club Brugge in November and reminiscent, too, of that pale performance.
Emery handed Emi Buendía a surprise start, his first since a Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October, and only third of the season in all competitions. Lucas Digne and Leon Bailey also returned to the starting lineup but the latter was ineffective and withdrawn 11 minutes into the second half, with Jhon Durán entering in search of a Villa equaliser. Bailey was not the only one who struggled, though Villa did stir after going behind on eight minutes.
Takumi Minamino intercepted Tyrone Mings’s loose pass out from defence, forcing Ezri Konsa to make a block and Monaco struck from Lamine Camara’s subsequent corner. Emiliano Martínez, whose every touch was jeered by the locals for his World Cup final antics against France in Qatar, repelled Thilo Kehrer’s initial header but was powerless to prevent Songo heading in close to the goalline. A few minutes later Martínez made a smart save to prevent Maghnes Akliouche’s first-time effort fizzing into the top corner after the forward met Eliesse Ben Seghir’s squared pass.
