Aston Villa recorded another famous victory against Bayern Munich on a night to remember at a euphoric Villa Park in the UEFA Champions League.
Meeting for the first time since the European Cup final in 1982, Villa triumphed by a single goal once more to fell the German giants.
Jhon Durán was the hero, coming off the bench and sending a sublime shot over the backpedalling Manuel Neuer to net the winner after 79 minutes.
Emi Martínez made critical saves from Serge Gnabry and Harry Kane in stoppage time to preserve the victory, with the final whistle met by joyous scenes on the pitch and in the stands.
Unai Emery’s side, who also saw a Pau Torres effort ruled out in the first half, were left to savour their second consecutive win to kick off their Champions League campaign.
Villa Park was resplendent ahead of kick-off, complete with flags in every seat as the club’s jubilant supporters relished a first home game in the continent’s top competition for 41 years when Juventus visited our famous stadium.
Jaden Philogene came into the starting XI as Emery’s current squad set about repeating the heroics of the last time the two clubs met in the 1982 European Cup final.
Bayern started like a team that reached the semi-finals of the Champions League last season, bossing possession and controlling the tempo, but it was Villa who carved out the first real chance of the match after 15 minutes.
Lucas Digne floated a cross to the back post, where Ollie Watkins outjumped Minjae Kim and sent a header narrowly over the crossbar.
Villa Park erupted soon after when Torres poked the ball into the net, but the home crowd’s joy was short-lived as VAR disallowed the goal for an offside in the buildup.
Munich flashed their offensive threat just before the half-hour mark when Gnabry shot wide from a tight angle, much to the anger of Kane and Michael Olise who were waiting for a cutback.
There had been little for Martínez to do before Olise curled a left-footed shot towards the top corner, with the Argentine leaping across goal to palm his effort over the bar.
Vincent Kompany brought German international Jamal Musiala on for Kingsley Coman at half-time and his side continued to have plenty of the ball without opening Villa up.
Olise saw a pair of close-range efforts blocked by Torres in quick succession as the hosts put their bodies on the line to thwart crosses and shots.
Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley came off the bench and were later joined by Durán, with Villa Park hoping he could repeat his recent heroics as a substitute when he replaced Watkins with 20 minutes left.
And the Colombian didn’t disappoint, sending the stadium into a state of euphoria when he found the back of the net on 79 minutes.
Torres sliced Bayern open with a through ball into the channel and after Durán glanced up to see Neuer off his line, he lifted a superb effort over the goalkeeper to give Villa the lead.
The remainder of normal time was played out in a nervy atmosphere, with Martínez making fine saves from Gnabry and Kae to preserve the lead.
The full-time whistle was greeted by a monumental roar as Villa repeated the result of 1982 and wrote a new chapter in the club’s history.
