Aston Villa’s hopes of securing a place in the Champions League knockout stages suffered a setback as they lost 1-0 to Monaco at Stade Louis II.
The decisive moment came in the eighth minute when Wilfried Singo headed home from close range. The goal followed an initial save by Emiliano Martinez, who parried a shot from Thilo Kehrer.
Despite being below their best, Villa had opportunities to equalize. Monaco goalkeeper Radoslaw Majecki made crucial saves, including a solid stop from Leon Bailey after a clever assist by Emiliano Buendía. Buendía also set up Ollie Watkins, whose effort was comfortably dealt with by Majecki.
Monaco also had a goal ruled out early in the second half when Maghnes Akliouche was flagged offside, but the hosts continued to look the most likely to score again, twice getting in behind the Villa defence only for last-ditch blocks to prevent them scoring.
The defeat means Unai Emery’s side will likely need to beat Celtic at Villa Park next Wednesday to seal a top-eight place in the league phase of the competition.
Meanwhile, the win boosted Monaco’s own automatic qualification hopes as they moved alongside Villa on 13 points.