RED BULL ARENA — Ross Barkley was the match-winner late on, Emiliano Martinez made amends even later, but overall it was Matty Cash who goes down as Aston Villa’s unlikely hero and big winner from the Champions League victory at RB Leipzig.
In and out of the side since returning from a hamstring injury, Cash can often get caught out at right-back – and has thus copped his fair share of criticism – but he was the clear beneficiary of Unai Emery’s switch to three at the back on Tuesday night.
Cash played a pivotal role in Villa’s opener, the 3-4-2-1 ultimately playing to his strengths as it is one that slightly diminishes his defensive duties and gives him greater license to attack down the right wing.
“I decided to try to use Cash attacking high and wide, he has this potential to do it,” Emery said. “He played his career at the beginning like a winger. Tonight he was fantastic.”
Cash was not alone in enjoying this system, either, with Lucas Digne impressive down the left and John McGinn and Morgan Rogers a fine double act as the two No 10s.
Whether Emery sticks with this formation remains to be seen, but up top he also has a welcome conundrum.
The walking highlight reel that is Jhon Duran scored his third golazo of the season, with all three being scored as a substitute, and so quite who leads the line against Nottingham Forest on Saturday goes down as a problem Emery should not only relish, but view as one that could bring the best out his two strikers, both of whom he will need if they are to enjoy a deep run in Europe.
That is, after all, what is possible, with Aston Villa third in the Champions League table and now in a strong position to avoid the knockout play-off round in February. A direct path to the round of 16, which will be played in March, is within their grasp, all thanks to their fourth win in this competition.
And this one was a roller-coaster. There was barely enough time to acknowledge this was indeed a back three from Villa – for the first time this season – when McGinn put them ahead inside three minutes.
A system that sought to exploit Leipzig down the wings paid dividends, with Cash delivering the cross for Ollie Watkins, whose cushioned header found McGinn six yards out.
From there, Villa’s captain made no mistake, and the visitors continued to find joy out wide, with Digne also enjoying the extra license to roam, and central to an attack that ended with Youri Tielemans scuffing his shot wide when he should have done better.
Inevitably there were a few teething problems with this system. At one point in the first half Watkins urged Cash to come further up when pressuring off the ball, while McGinn looked wiser to his role when compared to Rogers.
Pau Torres meanwhile was deep in conversation with Digne on several occasions, telling him to move across as they sought to fill any gaps the hosts were hoping to find.
All this though was immaterial come RB Leipzig’s first equaliser. Villa rarely concede in the Champions League but when they do, it is, as Boromir would say with panache, a gift.
In Bruges last month it was Tyrone Mings with a calamitous lapse in concentration, and this time it was Martinez’s error in judgement which undid Villa’s energetic start at the Red Bull Arena.
It came from a hopeful long ball forward. For one moment Martinez looked to be coming out of his box to head it, but after retreating, and with Ezri Konsa’s arms in the air in disbelief, in came Lois Openda to superbly steal the ball and roll it into the empty net.
Undone by the lack of bounce, Martinez’s mistake put an abrupt end to Villa’s controlled start, and it took them a good 10 minutes to regain their composure and threaten the hosts again, with Cash forcing Peter Gulacsi to parry an attempt away.
After Watkins had a goal chalked off for offside, Tielemans then threaded the needle to find Villa’s striker, who took the ball too wide before shooting too close to Gulacsi.
Watkins went off at half-time, leading to the introduction of Duran earlier than usual, and Villa’s No 9 flashed a shot wide just three minutes into the second half.
That was just the warm-up, as just four minutes later a 30-yard bolt from the blue put Villa back in front, a sublime goal to rival his strikes against Everton and Bayern Munich already this season.
Duran thought he had a second, but Cash strayed offside, and from the euphoria of what Villa fans believed to be a two-goal lead was once more extinguished when Leipzig equalised again, Christoph Baumgartner deftly volleying past the reach of Martinez.
Chances came and went for both sides, and after Barkley’s deflected effort went in, Martinez was then on hand to make amends for his earlier mistake, making two fine saves late on to seal all three points.
It leaves Villa third on 13 points with two games remaining – away at Monaco and at home to Celtic in January – and while the real prize would be a place in the last 16 regardless of how they get there, two fewer games in February really would be a blessing.
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