Villa win 2-1 at Basel for eighth straight victory

Basel 1–2 Aston Villa: Emery’s visitors extend winning run to eight
Villa win 2-1 at Basel for eighth straight victory
Aston Villa continued their rich vein of form with a hard-fought 2–1 victory away at FC Basel in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday night, marking their eighth consecutive win in all competitions under Unai Emery .  The Premier League side took the lead early in the St. Jakob-Park encounter when summer signing Evann Guessand pounced on a loose ball in the box to fire Villa ahead after just 12 minutes.  Basel responded well and levelled shortly before half-time when Flavius Daniliuc flicked Xherdan Shaqiri ’s free-kick past the Villa goalkeeper, setting up an intriguing second half.  Emery’s tactical switch at half-time proved decisive. Youri Tielemans , introduced for Matty Cash, took just eight minutes to make an immediate impact, curling a composed effort into the bottom corner to restore Villa’s lead.  The result keeps Villa firmly in control of their Europa League group, level on points with Lyon and Midtjylland , while Basel remain on six points with two matches left in the league phase.…