Amidst a cauldron of noise inside the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, it was near impossible for Villa to silence the crowd, and they were certainly at risk of being overawed by the occasion.
Unai Emery’s men settled fairly quickly though and created several early sightings of goal, perhaps the best of which almost fell Ollie Watkins’ way when only a last-ditch Milan Skriniar tackle denied him latching on to Emiliano Buendía’s deft ball and racing through on goal.
He did get a clearer sight of goal a matter of moments later when he headed Youri Tielemans’ corner goalwards, but Mert Muldur was on hand to clear off the line.
It seemed inevitable that Villa would hit the front at some point, and their goal duly arrived after 25 minutes when Matty Cash’s deflected cross fell kindly for the unmarked Jadon Sancho, who headed home his first UEL goal of the campaign.
Villa needed no introduction to the quality in the hosts’ frontline, which was spearheaded by their former striker Jhon Duran, but a distinct lack of attacking offerings by the Turkish side were almost punished when Buendia rounded Ederson but was left with his head in his hands when Skriniar incredibly cleared his effort off the line.
There was always a sense that Fenerbahce were likely to be much stronger after the break, but it was actually Villa who came out fighting when Tyrone Mings’ cross-shot was inches away from being prodded home by Watkins.
The hosts responded by introducing Anderson Talisca, who almost made an immediate impact when he forced Marco Bizot to make a fine one-handed save low to his right.
In what was rapidly becoming akin to a game of basketball, it was soon Villa’s turn to threaten, when Matty Cash struck the post just moments before they finally thought they’d doubled their advantage. Sancho’s delivery was bundled into his own goal by Ismail Yuksek, but his blushes were spared by the offside flag against the Villa winger in the build-up.
FenerbahCe’s pressure looked to have eventually told when Kerem Akturkoglu turned home at the second time of asking, but VAR confirmed Duran had strayed offside in the build-up to the relief of Villa.
Emery’s men came under some immense pressure in the closing stages but stood tall to the challenge and rubber-stamped their ticket to the last 16.
It now looks like a toss-up between the seeded and unseeded knockout round playoff spots for Fenerbahce, who were beaten at home in the league phase for the first time this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Jadon Sancho (Aston Villa)
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