Barkley and Buendía put Aston Villa on course to beat Viking 3-1
Aston Villa led 2-0 at half-time and 3-0 after an hour at Villa Park before Peter Christiansen scored a late reply for Viking.
By Harvey Watkins,
Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 at Villa Park on Wednesday night on Matchday 3 of the Champions League. The home side were two goals up by half-time through Ross Barkley and an Emiliano Buendía penalty. A Henrik Heggheim own goal made it three just after the hour, and Peter Christiansen pulled one back for Viking six minutes from time.
Two goals in 14 minutes before the break
Barkley opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Buendía doubled the lead from the penalty spot in the 37th. Those two goals, 14 minutes apart, settled the shape of the evening. Villa went in at the interval 2-0 up, and the second half began with Viking needing two goals simply to draw level.
The penalty was the decisive moment of the first half. It turned a narrow advantage into a two-goal cushion before the break. A one-goal lead leaves a match open. A two-goal lead asks the trailing side to take risks, and it was Villa who scored next.
The own goal that ended the contest
Heggheim's own goal in the 62nd minute made it 3-0 with almost half an hour remaining. From there the question was the margin of victory rather than the result. Villa did not need any of their own players on the scoresheet to extend the lead. That is a reminder that scorelines are made in more ways than one.
Looking at the goals alone, Villa scored three different ways: once through Barkley, once from the spot and once via an opponent. It is not much to go on, but it suggests their advantage on the night was not tied to a single route or a single player.
Christiansen's late reply
Christiansen scored for Viking in the 84th minute. It was too late to threaten the result, but it was not without value. An away goal at Villa Park gives Viking something from the trip. It also brought the final margin down to two rather than three.
How the goals came
- 23 min: Ross Barkley (Aston Villa), 1-0
- 37 min: Emiliano Buendía, penalty (Aston Villa), 2-0
- 62 min: Henrik Heggheim, own goal (Viking), 3-0
- 84 min: Peter Christiansen (Viking), 3-1
Reading the result
The timeline tells a clear story. Villa scored twice before the break, once more after the restart, and conceded only when the match was decided. Viking spent 61 minutes of the second half trailing by at least two goals.
A single result is thin evidence on which to judge either side, and this one should be read as exactly that. It shows that Villa took a firm hold of the match in the first half and kept it. It shows that Viking were able to score late on. Beyond that, one evening at Villa Park will not say how either team's campaign will go.