Archive January 30, 2026

Aston Villa match-winner Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba was described as “shy and nervous” by team-mate Morgan Rogers – but the teenager has announced himself on the European stage.

The 19-year-old’s late goal sealed Villa’s 3-2 comeback victory against Red Bull Salzburg on Thursday to help them finish second in the Europa League league phase.

At the final whistle Amadou Onana pushed Jimoh-Aloba towards the Holte End for a series of fist bumps, each greeted by cheers from the home support.

With Ollie Watkins coming off with a first-half hamstring injury and a below-par Villa 2-0 down early in the second half, Unai Emery’s side had needed a hero.

Jimoh-Aloba, who made his Premier League debut last month, came off the bench in the 66th minute and netted a fine winner with just three minutes remaining – after Rogers and Tyrone Mings had got Villa back into the game.

“It’s a proud moment for me on my European debut,” Jimoh-Aloba told TNT Sports after the match.

England playmaker Rogers was in West Bromwich Albion’s academy at the same time as Jimoh-Aloba – and believes the teenager will come out of his shell.

Rogers told BBC Sport: “It’s a really nice moment for him, he works hard in training and gives his all. He is probably a bit shy and nervous more than I’d like but he shows his quality in training.

“We know he’s got the ability, it’s about applying himself. I knew he was locked in and engaged and that’s what we want from him.

“Sometimes he can get a bit disengaged – that’s where you can probably lose it. As a young player I was exactly the same, when you get older you are focused more.

“He was focused the moment he came on and it was a really nice moment for him.

“I’ve taken a shine to him, he’s a really nice kid and we like when we train with him and want him to do well.”

With Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans all out injured, Emery handed 18-year-old midfielder George Hemmings his full Villa debut while academy graduate Kadan Young also came off the bench.

“It’s very important to have chances to play the young players, the opportunity for them to show their progress. I think they did a very good job,” Emery said.

The teenager joined Villa from West Brom in 2023 when he was 16 and was already an England Under-16 and Under-17 international.

He made his senior debut as a substitute in the Carabao Cup win at Wycombe in September 2024 and a year ago was included in Villa’s Premier League squad against Leicester.

The attacking midfielder signed a long-term deal at Villa in October 2024 and helped them lift the FA Youth Cup last season, scoring in the final against Manchester City.

Aston Villa led the way for British clubs in the Europa League on Thursday as they fought back to defeat Red Bull Salzburg and finish second in the competition’s league phase.

Villa, who had already secured automatic qualification prior to kick-off, finished behind Lyon, while Nottingham Forest and Celtic will hope to join them in the last 16 after advancing to February’s knockout play-offs.

Sean Dyche’s side thrashed Ferencvaros 4-0, while Celtic scored three goals inside the first 20 minutes on their way to a 4-2 win over Utrecht.

However, it was another disappointing evening for already-eliminated Rangers who slipped to a sixth consecutive away defeat in Europe at Porto.

Midtjylland finished third after ending their league phase campaign with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Dinamo Zagreb in Denmark.

Former Manchester United winger Antony set Real Betis on their way to a 2-1 win over Feyenoord as the La Liga side ended in fourth, heading a quartet of clubs on 17 points.

Porto came from behind to defeat Rangers 3-1 as they wrapped up fifth spot, with Braga directly behind them in the table despite being involved in the only goalless game on Thursday evening at Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles.

Freiburg’s hopes of a top-three place were ended by a late Olivier Giroud penalty in their 1-0 loss at Lille, with the German side finishing in seventh.

After a remarkable night of drama in the Champions League on Wednesday, it’s fair to say Thursday night was a more low-key affair in the Europa League as far as qualification for the play-off round was concerned.

Of the 16 teams that occupied positions nine to 24 before a ball was kicked, 14 of them sealed a place in the play-offs when the full-time whistles sounded out across the continent.

The two exceptions to that trend were Porto and Young Boys.

In the case of the Portuguese giants, it was in joyful circumstances as a 3-1 home win against Rangers was enough to fire them up to fifth and secure direct qualification to the last-16 stage.

But it was contrasting emotions for Young Boys

The Swiss side started the night in 23rd place and appeared on course for a place in the play-offs until they suffered a cruel 3-2 defeat in the last minute against Stuttgart.

The loss – which came after Gerardo Seoane’s side fought from 2-0 down – saw them finish the eight-game league phase in 25th place.

Elsewhere, Celtic ensured they would be one of the 16 clubs in the hat for Friday’s draw as they held off a second-half fightback from Utrecht to claim a 4-2 win at Parkhead.

The win moved Celtic up three positions to 21st – and sees them join fellow British side Nottingham Forest in the play-off round.

Two-time European champions Forest recorded an emphatic 4-0 win over Ferencvaros to climb to 13th in the table.

Despite the win, not enough results went in their favour for them to be able to sneak automatic qualification to the knockout round.

The two British clubs will be joined by Genk, Bologna, Stuttgart, Ferencvaros, Viktoria Plzen, FK Crvena Zvezda, Celta Vigo, PAOK, Lille, Fenerbahce, Panathinaikos, Ludogorets, Dinamo Zagreb and Brann.

The draw for the Europa League play-off round takes place in Switzerland on Friday.

Rangers were one of six sides who could not make the play-offs before Thursday’s games, along with Sturm Graz, Nice, Utrecht, Malmo and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile Young Boys led a group of teams with lingering hopes of making the play-offs, though they were dashed in heart-breaking fashion in Germany as they battled from two goals down before conceding a 90th minute winner to be eliminated.

It was similar disappointment for RB Salzburg, who despite leading for half an hour at Villa Park on the final night of action, slumped to a sixth defeat from eight league phase games to finish 31st.

Go Ahead Eagles claimed an impressive point at home to high-flying Braga but they too were eliminated, ultimately ending two points shy of the play-offs alongside FCSB.

The 16 teams in the play-offs will learn their opponents in Friday’s draw at 12:00 GMT.

The first legs will be played on Thursday 19 February, with return legs a week later on 26 February.

The seeded team will play the return leg at home.

The fixtures for the knockout phase play-offs will be determined after a draw that applies the following principles.

Clubs will be coupled based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions nine and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16) and then four unseeded pairs (17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).

The clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into the knockout phase bracket, against the clubs in each unseeded pair.

Three-time world champion Michael van Gerwen was knocked out by Damon Heta on the opening night of the World Masters in Milton Keynes.

The 36-year-old Dutchman – who won the Masters five times in a row between 2015 and 2019 – lost 3-1 to Australian number one Heta, who checked out 101 to seal his victory.

World Championship runner-up Gian van Veen was solid on his Masters debut, progressing 3-1 past Ryan Joyce despite losing the first set, while former world champion Gerwyn Price racked up a three-dart average of 108.51 to defeat in-form James Hurrell.

Jonny Clayton – last year’s beaten Masters finalist – saw off Wessel Nijman 3-1, with Nathan Aspinall defeating Shane McGuirk by the same scoreline.

Chris Dobey 3-0 Jermaine Wattimena

Gary Anderson 3-2 Niels Zonneveld

James Wade 3-2 Madars Razma

Nathan Aspinall 3-1 Shane McGuirk

Jonny Clayton 3-1 Wessel Nijman

Gerwyn Price 3-0 James Hurrell

Michael van Gerwen 1-3 Damon Heta

Tournament of Champions – first-round leaderboard

-6 N Hataoka (Jpn); -5 C Wannasaen (Tha), L Woad (Eng), L Grant (Swe), A Thitikul (Tha); -4 A Yang (Kor), N Korda (US); -3 I Lindblad (Swe), L Ko (NZ), A Iwai (Jpn), A-L Kim (Kor), S-M Lee (Kor); -2 C Hull (Eng)

England’s Lottie Woad is one shot behind leader Nasa Hataoka after the first round of the Tournament of Champions in Florida.

Woad, 22, who only turned professional last summer and was invited to play at the opening LPGA tournament of the season in Orlando, is one of four players on five under par.

Japan’s Hataoka claimed seven birdies for a round of 66 to lead on six under from Woad, Thai pair Chanettee Wannasaen and Atthaya Thitikul and Sweden’s Linn Grant.

Woad had the lead thanks to six birdies through 14 holes but made her only bogey of the day at the 18th.

She said the Lake Nona course “definitely challenges you”, adding: “The practice days were pretty cold… so it played a little bit easier today.”

Woad was an amateur when she won her first Ladies European Tour title in dominant fashion at the Women’s Irish Open in July.