Barkley and Buendia fire Aston Villa second in Champions League with 3-1 win over Viking

Aston Villa climbed to second in the Champions League table with a 3-1 victory over Norwegian outfit Viking at Villa Park, extending their unbeaten run in the competition to three matches under Unai Emery.

Ross Barkley opened the scoring with a header — his third goal of the competition — before Emi Buendia converted from the penalty spot and a Henrik Heggheim own goal put the result beyond doubt. Peter Christiansen pulled one back in the 84th minute to deny Villa a third consecutive clean sheet, but the points were never seriously in doubt.

The result is a fifth win in six matches across all competitions for Villa, who have recovered impressively from a difficult start to the season. It came just seven days after they routed Fenerbahce 6-0, and against a Viking side that had earned a creditable 3-3 draw with Bayern Munich the previous week.

Viking goalkeeper Arild Ostbo was the busier of the two keepers from the outset, turning away two Nicolas Jackson headers inside the opening ten minutes. The Norwegian side held their shape initially, but Villa’s pressure told when Ibrahim Mbaye’s precise corner found Barkley, who flicked a header past Ostbo to break the deadlock.

Buendia doubled the lead from the spot after a VAR review identified a foul by Zlatko Tripic on Alysson inside the box — referee Sebastian Gishamer had initially waved play on before halting proceedings a minute later to consult the monitor. Buendia had already been denied twice by Ostbo before coolly slotting home the penalty.

Viking made a brighter start to the second half, with Zion Suzuki called into action to catch a long-range strike from Tobias Moi, but Villa reasserted control and made the game safe just after the hour. Alysson, a persistent threat throughout the night, sent a cross into the box that deflected off Heggheim and into his own net.

Christiansen’s late header gave the scoreline a more competitive look and rewarded Viking for an improved second-half display, but Emery’s side were comfortable winners and now sit second in the Champions League standings after three fixtures.