Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 at Villa Park to stay perfect in Champions League

What happened

Aston Villa beat Viking 3-1 at Villa Park on Wednesday in the third matchday of the Champions League league phase, with the match report on the club's website and ESPN's match page both recording the same scoreline. ^{[3] [4]}

Ross Barkley opened the scoring with a header in the 23rd minute, according to 101greatgoals. Emiliano Buendia added a penalty in the 37th minute after a VAR review for a foul on Alysson by Zlatko Tripic, according to Dave Sport. ^{[1] [2]}

Villa went 3-0 up in the 62nd minute when Viking defender Henrik Heggheim turned Alysson's low cross into his own net, both reports say. Viking's Peter Christiansen scored with a first-time volley from Kristoffer Askildsen's cross in the 84th minute, according to 101greatgoals. The goal was first ruled offside before VAR overturned the decision, and it denied Villa a clean sheet. ^{[1] [2]}

Sky Sports listed the match as a Champions League fixture kicking off at 8pm UK time, and its live page showed Villa 2-0 up at the time it was captured, matching the first-half goals. ^[7]

Standings and background

Villa came into the match fourth in the 36-team table with six points from two wins: a 3-2 away victory at Club Brugge on 8 September and a 6-0 home win over Fenerbahce on 14 October, according to 101greatgoals' fixtures tracker. That page listed Viking 30th with one point from two games before kick-off. ^{[5] [1]}

The win lifts Villa to nine points from three matches, with 12 goals scored, Dave Sport reported. The top eight of the league phase qualify directly for the last 16. ^{[2] [5]}

France 24's agency report on the game was headlined as Villa staying perfect in the competition, and 101greatgoals also describes the club as having won all three of its games. ^{[6] [1]}

What comes next

Villa travel to Barcelona on 3 November, then visit Galatasaray on 24 November. They host Paris Saint-Germain on 8 December and Borussia Dortmund on 19 January, and finish away at Slavia Prague on 27 January, according to the fixture list published by 101greatgoals. ^[5]

The sources reviewed did not give an attendance figure or Viking's updated league-phase position after the defeat, so neither is reported here. Villa's official account summed up the night on social media as "Three goals. Three more points." ^[1]