Aston Villa kept their great form going as Unai Emery’s team beat Basel to earn their eighth straight win, their longest top-flight streak since 1914.
Emery made several changes to the starting XI for the Europa League match, but Evann Guessand’s early goal set Villa on track. Basel equalised through Flavius Daniliuc after a smart free-kick from Xherdan Shaqiri.
Just like their previous two games, Villa won it thanks to a substitute. This time it was Youri Tielemans, who came off the bench and fired in the winner for his first club goal since May, after Emiliano Buendia set him up.
The win keeps Villa on course for the last 16, giving them 15 points from six games with matches against Fenerbahce and Red Bull Salzburg still to play.
Emery said he was happy with the team’s mentality, especially after the emotional wins over Brighton and Arsenal, admitting they “struggled” late on but were “happy to get the victory.”
