Sloppy Aston Villa crashed to a chaotic Europa Conference League defeat at Legia Warsaw. Ernest Muci’s second-half winner spoiled Villa’s debut in the competition as Legia pulled off a deserved 3-2 victory in Poland. Pawel Wszolek and Muci had twice given Legia a first-half lead only for Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne to peg them back. Muci pounced six minutes into the second half and Villa never recovered. Legia boss Kosta Runjaic had billed it as a David v Goliath tie, with Legia going into the Group E opener with hope rather than expectation. Captain Josue, pointed out the vastly different transfer values between the squads. Maybe it was reverse psychology but they were far from overwhelmed and picked holes in Villa’s sloppy defence. Villa are expected to not just qualify from the group with ease but challenge for the title in Athens next May but they will have to significantly improve if that is to be the case. It look just two minutes for the energetic hosts to unpick their visitors with worrying simplicity. Muci sent Patryk Kun scampering down the right and he crossed for the onrushing Wszolek to fire in from eight yards. That Legia conceded 13 goals while qualifying for the group stage would have given Villa encouragement for any comeback and, sure enough, it took just four minutes to level. Nicolo Zaniolo’s strike from 25 yards was turned onto the bar by Kacper Tobiasz and Duran reacted quickest to nod in from close range. Villa managed to steady themselves as game settled after a rapid start, until Legia regained the lead after 26 minutes. Again the threat came from out wide, this time from the right. Wszolek was given too much time by Digne to cross for Muci to smash in. Defensively Villa had been weak, switching off when it mattered most, and Ezri Konsa was the next to escape when Muci went down under pressure in the area but referee Evangelos Manouchos was unmoved. Still Legia found gaps in the Villa backline when Marc Gual tested Emi Martinez and the visitors looked far from tournament favourites. Duran’s goal had been their only serious chance but Unai Emery’s men levelled against the run of play six minutes before the break. Leon Bailey tricked his way through, John McGinn’s shot was blocked and fell to Digne on the edge of the box for the left-back’s deflected volley to find the top corner. Villa had taken their opportunities to redeem themselves and Legia still needed Tobiasz’s leg to deny Duran an undeserved third just before the break. Yet if they thought they had tamed Legia they were badly mistaken and, like the first half, the hosts wasted little time in the second. Emery would have despaired at how open his side were when Gual picked out Muci to run at Konsa, he was pushed wide by Calum Chambers but still managed to squeeze his shot across Martinez and in off a post. Reinforcements were needed and Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby arrived but Villa almost fell further behind when Gual just failed to turn in after Martinez parried Bartosz Slisz’s drive. From then there appeared little way back with Legia comfortable, Tobiasz never tested – even when Jacob Ramsey shot wide. Outside of their qualifiers, it had been a long 13 years to return to Europe for Villa. It was not worth the wait. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Liverpool come from behind to secure Europa League victory against LASK Harry Kane happy with Bayern Munich start in Europe – Thursday’s sporting social Durham are Division Two champions after bowling out Worcestershire

J

Ryan Blaney was disqualified after the opening race of the round of eight in NASCAR’s playoffs because of an alleged illegal front shock on his Ford

The Washington Wizards moved up one spot in the NBA draft when they swapped lottery picks with the Indiana Pacers

The NBA’s 2024 Las Vegas Summer League kicks off at 4:30 p.m. EST with the New Orleans Pelicans taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves.A few teams have already played games this summer, but both of these teams are making their Summer League debuts.New Orleans has some fun young talent on...

The 2023 NBA Draft is drawing closer and we are still looking for clarity around the No. 2 overall pick, currently held by the Charlotte Hornets.Oddsmakers shifted odds in a big way on Monday night into Tuesday morning, installing guard Scoot Henderson as the heavy favorite to be selected second...

Goalkeeper Santiago Ramírez scored an absurd long-range goal to cap off a wild semifinal between his Atlético Morelia team and Celaya in Mexico's Liga de Expansión.

Jimmy Butler scored 27 points, hitting a pair of buckets to give the Heat the lead after they erased a double-digit, fourth-quarter deficit and Miami beat Boston 111-105 to take a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals

Taylor Hendricks has the potential to be a foundational defensive presence for his future NBA team.Taylor Hendricks entered his freshman season at Central Florida mostly off the radar. He certainly wasn't considered a one-and-done prospect. Flash forward a few months, and Hendricks is now e...

Paris Saint-Germain bounced back from their heavy Champions League loss at Newcastle United to beat Rennes 3-1 in Ligue 1 on Sunday, while the earlier game between Montpellier and Clermont was abandoned after a firecracker...

Rickie Fowler made a 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole of the Rocket Mortgage Classic, outlasting Collin Morikawa and Adam Hadwin two weeks after squandering a chance to win his first major at the U.S. Open

The game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals was suspended with the Nationals leading 1-0 in the third inning after after a rain delay of 3 hours, 56 minutes