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Aston Villa had yet another famous night away in Europe, but without Tyrone Mings, things could have been very, very different.
Unai Emery’s side recorded a famous 3-1 win at Club Brugge, with two goals in the last ten minutes giving them a huge advantage ahead of the return leg at Villa Park.
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Before that, though, they’d gone ahead through Leon Bailey, with Mings setting the Jamaican up with a glorious leap and headed lay-off in the box.
Maxim De Cuyper equalised for the hosts, and they should have gone ahead if it wasn’t for some astonishing defending.
Former Norwich man Christos Tzolis whipped a world class cross into the box and Hans Vanaken sent the ball back across goal and inside the far post.
However, before it got there, a back pedalling Mings made the touch of a lifetime to send it just around the post.
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Responding on TNT Sports Ally McCoist was in shock, saying: “I think that’s the save of the season by Tyrone Mings... OH! That’s the save of the season. That’s unbelievable!”
On talkSPORT, his colleague Andy Townsend was in agreement, adding: "Tyrone Mings getting back manages to get the slightest of touches to prevent that from going in, it’s an incredible touch.
“It’s a brilliant bit of defensive work, if he doesn’t touch that it’s going in.”
Chief football correspondent Alex Crook added: “Also, if he makes too much contact he puts it in his own net.”
Meanwhile, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand said after the game: "This is the game-changer, the game falls on that moment."
Adding his thoughts post-match, Emery made sure to pay tribute to the defender, saying: “We competed even more defensively than I wanted. We needed the goalkeeper, Tyrone Mings’ save.
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"We can remember the match we played before here with Tyrone. This time he saved a really important action.
“It’s very important to get experiences. The first experience he had here was not good.
"Today, he reacted fantastic, playing focused and serious, saving one action which would have been a goal.”
The Basque coach was referring to a league phase game between the two sides also in Belgium in November.
With the game 0-0, Mings mistakenly picked up a ball that was still in play, leading to a match-winning penalty for Vanaken.
Referencing that, and discussing his save, the 18-time England international said: “I was more than happy to come back here and play on this occasion and in this stadium again because I think we have unfinished business.
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“That game last time had 0-0 written all over it but we lost and a lot was made of the goal. I said if it was going to happen to anyone I’m happy it happened to me.”
On his clearance he added: “Even better was the ref giving a goal kick and not a corner, so a double bonus!
“That’s what I’m there for, I don’t think we were perfect defensively and we never will be but in those key moments it’s important to come out on the right side.”
Mings has had a tricky few years at Villa, with Steven Gerrard taking the captaincy off of him in July 2022, and then a year later the following season was ended by a serious knee injury.
The first Brugge encounter was Mings’ Champions League debut, and Emery called the error ‘the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career’, so praise this time around will have certainly meant a lot to the defender.
