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Game #3464

Wednesday, 23 November 1977

Attendance: 32,973

Won

UEFA Cup 3rd Round

3rd Round

Athletic Bilbao

DWLDW

Villa Park

Villa secure a strong 2-0 home win over Bilbao but it could have been more as ‘keeper Iríbar proved fallible throughout and once again the officials rule out a Villa strike in curious circumstances as Brian Little riffled a tremendous right foot shot into the net after 32 minutes from a corner by Cropley. But Dutch referee Johan Beck disallowed the "goal" ruling that Deehan had run offside.

Aston Villa

2-0

Athletic Bilbao

Assist(s) | John Gidman | 78' |

KEY MAN

PREVIOUS MATCH

NEXT MATCH

MATCH TIMELINE

33’ Goal, 1-0, Own Goal (Iríbar)
HT Aston Villa 1-0 Athletic Bilbao
78’ Goal, 2-0, John Deehan, Assist by John Gidman
FT Aston Villa 2-0 Athletic Bilbao

ON THIS DAY

Ron Saunders' Villa put themselves in a strong position in the UEFA Cup third round as they open up a two goal lead over Bilbao ahead of the second leg.

Aston Villa

Athletic Bilbao

FIXTURE HISTORY

Athletic Bilbao

Previous 5 vs. Bilbao: | - | - | - | - | - |

FIXTURE DETAILS

Season | 1977-78 |
Matchday | #23 |
Manager Game | #182 |
Wednesday, 23 November 1977

MATCH SUMMARY

Manager | Ron Saunders |
Referee | Jan Beck, Netherlands |
FT Result | Won |
FT Score | 2-0 |
Last 5 Games | DWLDW |

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Jan Beck | 🇩🇪 |
Previous 5:
Last Match:
Cards:

CARDS

Villa

None

Athletic Bilbao

None

Jan Beck

TEAM NEWS

Ron Saunders names an unchanged line up.

TEAM STATS

Starting XI Average Age
| 25.05 |

Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 29.81 |

Youngest Player |
F John Deehan | 20.31 |

MANAGER

MANAGER

Ron Saunders

Aston Villa

GK Jimmy Rimmer |
CB Ken McNaught |
FB Gordon Smith |
RB John Gidman |
M Leighton Phillips |
M Alex Cropley |
M Dennis Mortimer |
W Frank Carrodus |
F Brian Little |
F John Deehan |
CF Andy Gray |

Athletic Bilbao

Iríbar, Alexanko, Goikoetxea, Astrain, Villar, Tirapu, Guisasola, Irueta, Dani, Churruca, Ruiz. Manager: Koldo Aguirre.

SUBSTITUTES

None

SUBSTITUTES

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

GK John Burridge |
M John Gregory |
CB Allan Evans |
M Gordon Cowans |
FB Mick Buttress |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

SQUAD STATS

MATCHDAY SQUAD

UNAVAILABLE

Injury | 1 |
John Robson |

UNAVAILABLE

Not Recorded

Player Abbreviations:

GK : Goalkeeper

LB, RB, FB : Left Back, Right Back, Full Back

CB, D : Centre Back, Defender

M, W : Midfielder. Winger

F, CF : Forward, Centre Forward

🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance

DEBUT APPEARANCES

FINAL APPEARANCES

MATCH STATS

Not recorded

TABLE

2021-22 Matchweek 38.jpg

PROGRAMME

Quotation Marks.png

MATCHDAY QUOTES

"They [Atletico Bilbao] are an impressive and skilful side.

“Carlos leapt high to open the scoring against Hercules and he is the sort of player who can cause problems.

“They are more skilful than our last UEFA opponents, Gornik, but they are not as well organised. And, as you would expect with a Spanish side, they are not a physical."

Tony Barton


"Any side reaching the last 16 of the competition must be a top outfit. We know Bilbao are no mugs."

Ron Saunders. Pre Match.

---

“Deehan was in the net at the time and was not interfering with play [when the referee ruled him offside for Brian Little’s ‘goal’].

“I think we fully deserved our two goal lead.

“The whole side played well and it will be very interesting over there.

“But I am confident that we can go through to the last eight of the competition."

Ron Saunders.

*Birmingham Daily Post*
Thursday, 24 November 1977