A first-half equaliser by Mathis Surray was accompanied by a second-half finish by Mats Deijl, who saw Go Ahead record a historic win despite a slow start.
This was all despite an early finish by Evann Guessand, who scored his first Aston Villa goal after joining in the summer. Still, it proved insufficient as the favourites for the title fell to an agonising defeat.
After their impressive 2-1 victory last Sunday at Tottenham in the Premier League, Unai Emery made seven changes to his starting XI. Jadon Sancho, Victor Lindelof, Lamare Bogarde, Ian Maatsen, Ollie Watkins and Emi Buendia all came in with Tyrone Mings captaining the side.
The Dutch side came into the contest on the back of an away victory against Greek Side Panathinaikos in their last European outing, but their home form at De Adelaarshorst has seen them win only once in five games.
Story Of The Game
Despite Storm Benjamin causing the kick-off times of two other European fixtures in the Netherlands to be changed. With it raining all day in Deventer, Buendia got proceedings underway and, more importantly, on time.
It was arguably one of the biggest European nights for Go Ahead Eagles, which was just over 60 years on from their first match against Celtic in 1965. Facing their first English side in European competition, the hosts began positively on the front foot, with Gerrit Nauber having his attempt go over the bar.
This was indeed short-lived, as the visitors broke the deadlock almost instantly following the hosts’ decent opening period. After a cross from Sancho, which saw Jari De Busser deflect away from the goal, Guessand unorthodoxly had his shot come off his shin, and the ball easily rolled into the back of the net for his first Villa goal.
De Busser then misplaced the ball playing out from the back, which fell to Guessand, who offloaded to Watkins, whose shot was saved by the hosts’ keeper after the 29-year-old tried to guide his shot into the bottom corner.
The visitors had another chance through Buendia minutes later. Still, Nauber was then penalised and booked after being carried off on a stretcher after an old-fashioned challenge on Bogarde around the halfway line.
Watkins, on 25 minutes, won his side a corner, but Go Ahead calmly won back possession after Amadou Onana’s header went wide from close range. Minutes later, Guessand had an opportunity to double the visitors' lead as he was one-on-one with De Brusser, but his attempt was fired straight at the 25-year-old keeper.
As the half went on, the rain hit harder, and the visitors would’ve been questioning themselves about how they had not been able to double their lead. Sancho and Bogarde had noticeable chances, but De Brusser made some decent saves despite his earlier mistake in the first half.
Then, from nothing, just before halftime, Go Ahead claimed the equaliser. After a free-kick from just inside the visitors' half, it was eventually taken by Surray, who had his shot deflect off Pau Torres into the far corner for the Dutch side’s first home goal of this season's Europa League.
Despite a long VAR check, against the run of play, the hosts were level going in at the break, which was pleasing for the De Adelaarshorst faithful. Following a positive end to the first half, Go Ahead continued to attack with greater confidence as the second half began.
Sancho then, on the left, crossed into the six-yard box, but Watkins was unable to capitalise, as the ball ended up in the hands of De Busser. Then, on the hour mark, with seemingly the momentum behind them, the hosts put themselves ahead.
Off the back of the ball over the top by Joris Kramer found skipper Deijl, who expertly lifted his shot over Martinez for the hosts’ second. It must be said, it was excellent setup play and finish.
After three consecutive corners from Buendia, the hosts were able to clear to relieve pressure, but the visitors began swinging the encounter back in their favour as Emery made changes. In the 76th minute, Cash attempted to keep the ball in play, and Dean James' hand got in the way, with referee Filip Glova awarding Villa a penalty.
Buendia was the one to take it, but after replacing the ball on the penalty spot, his shot missed the target as his shot fired over to the delight of raucous home support.
In the closing exchanges, Villa were unable to find the leveller despite a number of chances as they returned to Birmingham empty-handed, as their five-game winning streak came to a brutal end.