GO AHEAD EAGLES saw one of their players BOOKED whilst being stretchered off the pitch in a nightmare first 15 minutes against Aston Villa.
The Dutch side suffered a triple whammy early on in their eventual shock win after being forced into a substitution that managed to get even worse.
Defender Gerrit Nauber was carried off by medical staff on a stretcher in the Netherlands with his side already 1-0 down to Evann Guessand’s opener.
The Eagles not only had to watch a key part of their team go off, but Nauber was shown a yellow card as he left the field, turning a bad situation into a terrible one.
With fears over a possible broken leg expressed after the match, Nauber was perhaps fortunate not to leave his team with 10 men after a VAR review on his challenge.
Nauber could have been sent off for his foul on Lamare Bogarde but was let off by referee Filip Glova.
He had already been offered a chance to put the hosts in front prior to Guessand’s strike, blazing over from a good position inside the Villa area.
That was then punished following some scrappy defending but it wasn’t enough for Unai Emery’s men to continue their 100 per cent record in the competition.
Despite the turmoil, Go Ahead were level before the break through Mathis Suray’s deflected effort.
They then found themselves ahead via Mats Deijl, sending the ground into ecstasy.
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Emery was left to rue a glorious set of missed opportunities for Villa across the 90 minutes, none more so than Emi Buendi’s skied penalty.
Villa were awarded a way back into the game but squandered their spot kick, falling to a shock defeat.
Speaking after the game, Eagles boss Melvin Boel confirmed that Nauber’s injury was serious and his yellow card will not have helped sooth matters.
