Aston Villa beat Viking 3–1 to make it three Champions League wins

Aston Villa made it three wins from three in the Champions League league phase with a 3–1 victory over Viking at Villa Park on Wednesday. According to PA's match report carried by RTÉ, Ross Barkley and Emiliano Buendía gave the hosts a two-goal lead before Henrik Heggheim's own goal extended their advantage.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stzhGKABFDo

Villa's opening goal followed early chances for Nicolas Jackson, whose headers were saved by Arild Østbø. Barkley then met Ibrahim Mbaye's corner to put Unai Emery's side ahead. Buendía added the second from the penalty spot after a video review of Zlatko Tripić's challenge on Alysson.

The visitors offered more after the break, with Tobias Moi testing Zion Suzuki. Villa nevertheless moved further ahead when Alysson's cross went into the net off Heggheim. Peter Christiansen answered with an 84th-minute volley, but Viking could not recover. PA reported that the late goal left Villa second in the standings rather than top, despite their maximum return of nine points.

The result builds on two contrasting victories at the start of Villa's European campaign. UEFA's results list records a 3–2 away success against Club Brugge followed by a 6–0 home win over Fenerbahçe. The club's account of that second match lists two goals apiece for Jackson and Barkley, with Johan Manzambi and Tammy Abraham also scoring.

Viking arrived with one point from their first two league-phase fixtures, having lost 3–1 at Stuttgart before drawing 3–3 with Bayern Munich. UEFA's pre-match statistical review identified that Bayern draw as their first point in the Champions League proper. It also noted that Villa had been unbeaten in seven home matches in the competition proper, with six wins and one draw.

UEFA's published schedule now takes Villa to Barcelona on November 3, followed by another away match against Galatasaray on November 24. Viking's next league-phase assignment is at home to Sabah on November 4 before a trip to Atlético de Madrid. For Villa, the opening three fixtures have delivered the full nine points available ahead of those successive away tests.