Aston Villa stumbled into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup after slipping to a 3-1 defeat at Hamburg.
O'Neill's men given a lesson in Europe
Aston Villa stumbled into the knockout stages of the Uefa Cup after slipping to a 3-1 defeat at Hamburg.
Having already booked their safe passage out of Group F the result mattered little to Martin O'Neill's men.
However, they will be disappointed to have allowed Croatian strike duo Mladen Petric and Ivica Olic to give them the run around in Germany.
Villa were put on the back foot from the off and it came as no surprise when they fell behind on 18 minutes.
A long diagonal ball sliced through the heart of their defence and Petric was on hand to fire an unstoppable volley past the stranded Brad Guzan.
That lead was duly doubled on the half-hour mark as Olic evaded the attentions of Carlos Cuellar to send a diving header creeping in off the post.
Craig Gardner then spurned Villa's best chance, blazing high over the top when well placed, before Macell Jansen saw a dipping drive crash off the crossbar at the opposite end.
Hamburg were not to be denied a third, though, and Olic raced clear to snatch his second of the game on 57 minutes.
Nathan Delfouneso grabbed a late consolation with seven minutes left on the clock, while Steve Sidwell then saw red for two bookable offences.
Martin Jol's men progress as group winners after their impressive success, and will be handed a more favourable draw in the next round as a result, while Villa are forced to settle for third place and will now meet one of those sides that topped their respective standings.
Deadly
Villa began the game with only Marlon Harewood operating up front and after 18 minutes a deadly piece of finishing from Petric put Hamburg in front after they had dominated the early exchanges.
Piotr Trochowski played a 50-yard ball which picked out the run of Petric who had managed to stay onside.
His first touch took him clear of Zat Knight and the second saw him fire a left-footed volley past the dive of Guzan into the corner of the net.
Then after 28 minutes Villa were found wanting at the back again as Olic doubled Hamburg's lead.
Jansen supplied the ball out to Dennis Aogo on the left flank and his cross into the danger area saw Olic get in front of Cuellar and angle his header past Guzan via the inside of a post.
Joris Mathijsen became the first player to be yellow-carded for a late challenge on Craig Gardner.
But the attacks towards the Villa goal were now coming on a constant basis and Guzan was fortunate Trochowski volleyed straight at him from a Jansen centre.
In a rare attack by Villa, Gardner was only just too high with a volley from a couple of yards inside the Hamburg box.
But in first-half injury-time Guzan was relieved to see a thumping drive from Jansen crash against the crossbar.
Collision
Knight became the first Villa player to be yellow-carded after the break for a challenge on Petric.
But Cuellar was at fault when Villa fell further behind after 56 minutes to Olic's second goal.
Gardner was lying injured in the Hamburg box after a collision with goalkeeper Frank Rost but referee Aleksei Nikolaev allowed play to continue.
In the space of a few seconds Mathijsen launched a 60-yard pass into the Villa half which Cuellar looked favourite to win but Olic nicked the ball away from him and drilled a low shot past Guzan.
O'Neill was clearly unhappy with the decision and was spoken to by Nikolaev.
Guzan made a meal of turning a low shot from Trochowski around the post before Gardner was replaced by debutant Barry Bannan.
The Villa players looked frustrated and Sidwell was booked for a challenge on Colin Benjamin.
Delfouneso then scored a consolation goal eight minutes from time from a Moustapha Salifou centre.
And a minute later Sidwell was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence when he tripped David Jarolim.
| Hamburg |
Team Statistics |
Aston Villa |
| 3 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 7 |
Shots on Target |
6 |
| 6 |
Shots off Target |
4 |
| 3 |
Blocked Shots |
0 |
| 5 |
Corners |
5 |
| 5 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 1 |
Offsides |
5 |
| 1 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
1 |
| 76.8 |
Passing Success |
66.1 |
| 31 |
Tackles |
21 |
| 83.9 |
Tackles Success |
76.2 |
| 63.9 |
Possession |
36.1 |
| 48.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.1 |
|
