{"id":802763,"date":"2026-10-14T22:22:31","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802763\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T22:22:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T22:22:31","slug":"jackson-and-barkley-doubles-sink-feeble-fenerbahce-in-record-aston-villa-win-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/802763\/","title":{"rendered":"Jackson and Barkley doubles sink feeble Fenerbahce in record Aston Villa win | Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may be a bit early for the pantomime season but the Holte End enjoyed acclaiming their heroes and villains as Aston Villa<\/a> won at home for the first time this season with their biggest win in European competition. Every touch for Mason Greenwood, playing his first game in England since January 2022, was booed, but even louder applause was reserved for Aston Villa\u2019s rediscovered attacking prowess.<\/p>\n

Johan Manzambi celebrated his 21st birthday by opening the scoring on his first Champions League<\/a> appearance, before Nicolas Jackson took the game beyond Fenerbahce\u2019s reach with two more goals before half-time to help banish any fears about playing in front of the demolished North Stand.<\/p>\n

With Prince William cheering on from the stands, Ross Barkley made this a night to remember as he scored twice, the first goal from a penalty earned by Manzambi, and Tammy Abraham helped Villa score six in a game for the first time since beating Brighton three years ago. No team has won more games (15) in European competition since the start of last season.<\/p>\n

Villa\u2019s supposed hex about playing in front of the empty North Stand was put to bed as Villa scored thrice at the end of the ground that is being redeveloped this winter. \u201cGreenwood, Greenwood, what\u2019s the score,\u201d echoed around the three packed stands at Villa Park. Chants of a less salubrious nature were also given regular renditions. This was the former England forward\u2019s first game in this country since he played in Manchester United\u2019s 1-0 win against West Ham <\/a>United in nearly five years ago.<\/p>\n

Johan Manzambi scores his deflected goal for the opener. Photograph: Tim Keeton\/EPA<\/p>\n

Greenwood was charged in 2022 with attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The Crown Prosecution Service discontinued the case in February 2023 <\/a>after key witnesses withdrew their involvement and new material came to light. The player had denied the charges.<\/p>\n

He had played for Marseille in a friendly against Villa 14 months ago, when he allegedly spat at Amadou Onana. So it was no surprise when his name was booed as the teams were announced and at every subsequent involvement.<\/p>\n

Far more palatable was the freedom with which Villa played. Jackson now has five goals for Unai Emery\u2019s team since signing from Chelsea<\/a> for \u00a365m in the summer while Manzambi, a \u00a359.5m capture from Freiburg, was a joy to watch in the No 10 role, combining deft touch with wiry physicality. \u201cMy first Champions League game and my first goal, on my birthday,\u201d he said. \u201cMy family are here. That\u2019s very nice for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Switzerland international composed himself to score after Matt\u00e9o Guendouzi had inadvertently headed on John McGinn\u2019s cross following a short corner.<\/p>\n

Zion Suzuki twice saved well from Vedat Muriqi but Villa created umpteen chances themselves. Jackson, collecting Boubacar Kamara\u2019s pass, struck home cleanly from the edge of the penalty area just after the half-hour mark before repeating the trick six minutes before the interval. In between, Oguz Aydin shot against the Villa bar, but, truth be told, Villa\u2019s 11th successive home win in European competitions was already safely banked.<\/p>\n

Villa\u2019s free-scoring spell is in stark contrast to their start to the season, when they only managed one goal in their opening four games. Now they have scored at least three times in four of their past six matches.<\/p>\n

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Should they beat Viking here next Wednesday, Villa would be well on their way to qualifying from the group stages with nine points from three games. \u201cWe are being ambitious,\u201d Unai Emery, the Villa manager, said. \u201cWe want to be protagonists in the Champions League.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicolas Jackson drills the ball between Nathan Ak\u00e9\u2019s legs to score Aston Villa\u2019s third. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Manzambi was tripped by Ismail Yuksek midway through the second half for the penalty from which Barkley made it 4-0, even if Jackson admitted he had fancied the chance to keep the match ball. \u201cYeah I wanted to take it but the most important thing is we win,\u201d the striker told TNT Sports. \u201cHopefully next time I\u2019ll get the hat-trick.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cheers that followed that goal were promptly matched by the jeers for Greenwood as he was substituted. The pantomime was over as a contest.<\/p>\n

Barkley swiftly added a fifth with a deflected shot. But even before Abraham turned in Alysson\u2019s cross for the sixth goal, some Villa minds were turning to Saturday evening\u2019s trip to Newcastle United and the perennial autumnal challenge of resurrecting a difficult start to the league season. In Emery they trust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It may be a bit early for the pantomime season but the Holte End enjoyed acclaiming their heroes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[218,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-802763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-football","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}