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Soccer

'It's part of football!' - Ezri Konsa backs Aston Villa after first UEFA Champions League loss

'It's part of football!' - Ezri Konsa backs Aston Villa after first UEFA Champions League lossAston Villa/Aston Villa FC via Getty Images
Unai Emery's men suffered a first European loss of the campaign after Tyrone Mings conceded a bizarre penalty call.

Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa believes they can recover on the back of a first UEFA Champions League loss after they were defeated 1-0 by Club Brugge.

Hans Vanaken's penalty was the difference after a bizarre incident in which Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in his own box, believing play was yet to start again from a goal-kick.

Having made a flying start to the current campaign, defeat in Belgium marks Villa's fourth game without a victory now, since Unai Emery's men handed a 2-0 loss to Bologna.

One Premier League point from a possible six and a Carabao Cup exit to Crystal Palace has seen them struggle with form, but Konsa backed his team-mates to bounce back.

"It's part of football," he told TNT Sports. "You win some, you lose some. Unfortunately, tonight wasn't our night. It was our first loss in the Champions League.

"We have to move on from it quickly. We've got another game on Saturday. We can't be too down on it. We'll have to move on from this and focus."

On their penalty concession, Konsa admitted that he missed the incident himself, but queried why the officials did not choose to book Mings if the offence had been intentional.

The defender had already been on a yellow card prior to the incident, but escaped a second and subsequent dismissal despite being penalised for the offence.

"I just saw the players running to the ref and saying [it was a] handball," he added. "It was one of those ones. It kills the game. It's 0-0.

"If it is deliberate, he needs to get a second yellow. He's on a yellow already, so why not send him off for that? It's a mistake, but it's not a mistake that we want to make."

Villa sign off before the November international break with a crunch clash against league leaders Liverpool on Saturday, in a pivotal test for their top-four ambitions this term.

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