Fenerbahce 0-1 Aston Villa: Sancho header secures top-eight finish for Emery´s men

Aston Villa clinched automatic qualification for the Europa League round of 16 as Jadon Sancho’s first-half header proved enough to beat Fenerbahce 1-0.

Unai Emery’s side arrived in a rainy Istanbul knowing a victory would secure a top-eight league-stage finish, and they made it six wins in seven matches in the competition.

Sancho nodded beyond former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson in the 25th minute, after Matty Cash’s right-wing cross deflected off Jayden Oosterwolde and fell kindly for him.

Some sublime defending from Milan Skriniar denied Sancho a second goal shortly before half-time, though Villa were then indebted to Marco Bizot for keeping Anderson Talisca at bay on the hour mark.

Cash struck the post from distance before Villa put the ball in the net again, though Ollie Watkins was deemed to be offside in the build-up before it ricocheted in off Ismail Yuksek.

Fenerbahce also had a goal disallowed as they threw men forward in search of an equaliser, with ex-Villa striker Jhon Duran being ruled offside following a VAR review, meaning Kerem Akturkoglu’s scrappy finish counted for nothing.

JOB DONE IN ISTANBUL #UEL pic.twitter.com/BHRrRVfrTJ

— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) January 22, 2026

Data Debrief: Sancho matches Crouch, Emery celebrates century

Sancho may have found starts difficult to come by since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United, but his goal here put him in an exclusive club.

He became just the second English player to score in major European competitions for four different teams (Borussia Dortmund, Man Utd, Chelsea, Villa), after Peter Crouch (Liverpool, Portsmouth, Tottenham, Stoke City).

Sancho is also one of only three Englishmen to score in major European competitions in each of the last eight seasons since 2018-19 – the others are Harry Kane and Phil Foden.

His header handed Villa victory in a game where they fired off 12 shots to Fenerbahce’s 13, but edged the expected goals (xG) battle by 1.45 to 0.89.
And the win came on a landmark day for Emery, who became the first manager to ever oversee 100 games in the Europa League – a competition he has won a record four times.