- Wilfried Singo's header in the eighth minute gave Monaco victory over Aston Villa
- Aston Villa's hopes of automatically reaching the last 16 rest after beating Celtic
- LISTEN NOW: It's all starting! Ruben Amorim seems desperate… it is the last resort to publicly denounce your players
In one of the world's casino capitals, Unai Emery made a losing bet to leave Aston Villa's Champions League fate pending next week's all-British clash against Celtic.
With the Prince of Wales watching from the VIP seats, Villa followed Monaco to Wilfried Singo's header in the eighth minute. Emery then took the risk of playing Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran together from the 10th minute of the second half, but with their two star forwards on the field, Villa never looked like scoring.
They will now likely need to beat Celtic next week to have a chance of automatically qualifying for the last 16.
It's not all bad for Villa, who are guaranteed a place in the play-off round in February. But Emery would love to have a couple of clear weeks at such a demanding time of the season, and a win here would have all but assured that.
Instead, Villa must wait for results elsewhere and hope they deliver against Celtic. Villa did not deserve more than what they got after a poor performance.
Emery gave the surprise by choosing Emi Buendía, marginalized this season, in his starting eleven. The Argentine started on the left flank with Leon Bailey on the right and Morgan Rogers just behind Ollie Watkins, again with the nod over Jhon Durán.
Aston Villa suffered a 1-0 defeat against Monaco with a Wilfried Singo header making the difference
SINgo's early goal was enough for Monaco to level on points with Aston Villa
Unai Emery played together with Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán in the second half without reward
Bailey twice had the opportunity to make an impact early on, but wasted them, first with a strong touch inside the area and then with a weak header straight at Radoslaw Majecki.
Tyrone Mings was equally careless at the other end and that led to the first goal. The Villa centre-back lost possession to Takumi Minamino, whose shot was blocked by Ezri Konsa. From a Lamine Camara corner, Emi Martínez saved Thilo Kehrer's first header but could not prevent Singo from heading in the next.
Villa seemed torn behind, with Konsa to blame this time. Denis Zakaria took advantage of the Englishman's loose ball, Eliesse Ben Seghir found Maghnes Akliouche and Martínez did well to repel the rising attack. Martínez was heckled at every turn by fans who have yet to forgive his antics as Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final.
With Youri Tielemans and Boubacar Kamara beginning to assert themselves in midfield, Villa improved. Singo was on target to stop Matty Cash's cross from Watkins, while Majecki did well to prevent Morgan Rogers from reaching Kehrer's short back header.
Finding space in midfield, Buendia picked out Watkins and when the ball reached Bailey, Majecki made another instinctive stop. The Pole rescued his team again in first-half stoppage time when Watkins collected another Buendia ball, and only Majecki's fingertips prevented him from finding the bottom corner. Seconds later, Akliouche should have doubled Monaco's lead, but he fired Minamino's pass too high.
Emery stayed with the same XI from the restart and was almost rewarded when Buendia again picked out Watkins and Rogers simply brushed the post after a cut from his team-mate.
However, Monaco again showed their strength on the counterattack when Akliouche deflected Vanderson's low cross only to be called offside.
Aston Villa supporter Prince William, centre, was pictured watching from the stands in Monaco.
Aston Villa have already secured a place in the play-offs, but will want to avoid extra games.
Maghnes Akliouche should have doubled Monaco's lead in the closing stages of the first half
Durán came off the bench in the second half but could not help Villa equalize the match.
Shortly before the hour mark, Emery had seen enough and sent Duran in to play up front with Watkins, with Rogers moving wide and Bailey sent off.
By trying to force a tie, Villa left spaces in defense. Minamino should have punished them twice, but was left with the ball as first Akliouche and then Breel Embolo lurked unmarked. Then Cash simply failed to finish an impressive move involving Watkins and Rogers.
At this point, Aleksandr Golovin replaced Ben Seghir and, as he approached goal, Mings did well to block his shot.