Aston Villa man makes timely breakthrough amid January transfer claims
Aston Villa couldn't break Monaco down in their crucial Champions League meeting on Tuesday evening and, as a result, fell to a 1-0 defeat - but elsewhere, in the same competition, a Villa player was hitting the back of the net.
While Villa spent Tuesday trying and failing to rescue the situation after falling behind to an early goal from Wilfried Singo, over in Italy one of their own was plundering a last-minute winner - a goal which has kept glimmering hopes alive of qualification.
Samuel Iling-Junior, the Chelsea academy product who moved to Italy in 2020 and joined Juventus, joined Villa this past summer along with teammate Enzo Barrenechea. The England under 21 winger didn't make the match-day squad under Unai Emery in the first couple of Premier League games, however, and he was permitted to return to Italy on loan.
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He headed back out to Serie A and joined Bologna, who last season booked their place in the Champions League against all odds. While Villa have been enjoying their own elite European adventure, so too has Iling-Junior - indeed he featured against his parent club earlier in the season.
On Tuesday night, with Bologna needing to beat Borussia Dortmund to keep their faint hopes alive of finishing in the top 24 of the competition, the Italian side fell behind to a Serhou Guirassy penalty early on. Iling-Junior replaced the injured Riccardo Orsolini just after the half hour mark, however, and he helped inspire a second half comeback.
Thijs Dallinga netted the equaliser for Bologna in the 71st minute, before Iling-Junior popped up just a minute later with what proved to be the winner. Bologna are in 27th place on five points after their first Champions League victory, although Manchester City will kill those unlikely hopes if they gain a result tonight at PSG.
Iling-Junior, who has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks that his loan move might be cut short and that Villa could recall the player in the January transfer window, has made 14 appearances so far for Bologna and scored two goals - although he hasn't started in Serie A.
