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Tyrone Mings slammed Aston Villa’s display as “not good enough” as they fell to a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Monaco.
The Villans missed the chance to guarantee themselves a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League after suffering just the second defeat of their campaign through Wilfried Singo’s early header.
Villa lakced inspiration as they battled to get themselves into the game after that early setback and it proved to be not enough as they lost ground on their top-eight rivals.
Speaking to TNT Sports, defender Mings said: “No excuses. I gave a poor ball away leading to the corner, didn’t defend the corner very well. We couldn’t get back in the game and couldn’t take the chances we had. That is the fine margins of football.
“We were just not good enough.
“We will certainly take the positives that came from the game but we have to be better. We have to try to stay balanced and be the same if we won when we lose. We need a consistent mood and attitude.
“It wasn’t a good night, there’s not a person here who feels good about that – the fans have travelled a long way. We will go again.
“In the big moments we came out on the wrong side of them.”
“Football’s a very simple game, and we weren’t good enough.”
An honest assessment of Aston Villa’s performance in Monaco from Tyrone Mings.
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 21, 2025
Emery: ‘Bringing Duran on was a mistake’
Manager Unai Emery was more positive about his side’s performance but conceded that they failed to match their previous performances in the competition, which include wins over Young Boys, Bayern Munich, Bologna and RB Leipzig.
The Spanish boss said: “I think we played 70 minutes like I want. The opponent of course have a gameplan as well. They were good in transition.
“We created three or four good chances to score. Of course if we want to be at this level we have to take the chances we had. But despite that I was more or less positive.”
Emery made the rare move of bringing on Jhon Duran alongside fellow striker Ollie Watkins in the second half as Villa chased the game and admitted they lost a foothold in the game from that moment.
He added: “The last 20-25 minutes we were playing with two strikers and we were not threatening like the first 70 minutes.
“The last 20 minutes we played with two strikers and with two strikers we are not being organised with the positioning like I want.
“We have two good strikers. Playing with two strikers is my challenge. Both are very good players but today it didn’t work well.
“I made a mistake when I decided to play with two strikers. Until that moment we were more or less controlling the game.”
One positive from the evening in Monte Carlo was the display of Emiliano Buendia, who was undoubtedly Villa’s best source of attacking threat after creating good opportunities for Watkins, Leon Bailey and Morgan Rogers.
On the Argentian, who has returned from long-term injury this season, he added: “I was especially happy with Emi Buendia today. He has the option to leave but we needed him. We played fantastic with his qualities, his mentality and his commitment to this squad.
