Monaco 1 Aston Villa 0: Unai Emery’s side dealt blow in race for Champions League top eight in front of Prince William

ASTON VILLA discovered the hard way.

The last place in the world you can afford to be poor is Monte Carlo.

Unai Emery brought his Premier stars to the millionaires’ playground in the South of France.

But in front of watching royalty – Villa fan Prince William – his side performed like paupers.

Wilfried Singo’s first-half header was enough to sink Villa who had 82 minutes to put things right but never came close.

They trudged off at the end, deservedly beaten by Monaco’s energetic kids.

Quite simply, Villa ran out of ideas like a gambler who has run out of chips at Monte Carlo’s famous Casino.

A win here in the Principality – which hosts the most glamorous and famous Grand Prix in the world – would have seen Villa enter the home straight in pole position.

Instead, they looked as if they had run out of gas – and at times they were the pits.

Now they face a huge test of their bottle at home to Celtic next Wednesday.

It is a must-win game if Villa are to finish with 16 points and hopefully qualify as one of the top eight.

But they will need to go through several gears if they are to pop the champagne once they hit the chequered flag.

Emery raised eyebrows with his team selection as he handed Emi Buendia his first Champions League start.

Less unexpected was his decision to start Ollie Watkins ahead of Villa’s top scorer in Europe, Jhon Duran.

The Colombian’s three goals in this competition were three more than Watkins has managed this term.

But to be fair to the England striker, he is in a rich vein of form right now after scoring in his last two games against Everton and Arsenal.

Emery did manage to upset one section of the crowd with his selection, however.

Emi Martinez’s inclusion was a no-brainer for the Spaniard but it didn’t go down well with the Monaco fans who booed him every time he touched the ball.

French fans will never forgive the big Argentine goalie for his antics in the World Cup final when his housery helped his nation defeat France in the final.

Villa actually carved out the first half-chance of the night when Lucas Digne delivered a deep cross to the back post.

But Leon Bailey sent a weak header into Radoslaw Majecki’s arms, then collided with Christian Mawissa and required treatment.

Villa seemed intent on hurting themselves because moments later Tyrone Mings was short with a pass to Youri Tielemans and Maghnes Akliouche sped in to rob the Belgian.

The Monaco winger thundered in a shot which was deflected for a corner off Ezri Konsa.

But once again Villa were sloppy from the corner and they paid a heavy price.

Lamine Camara whipped in a tempting outswinger and Thilo Kehrer soared above Mings to power in a header.

Martinez reacted instinctively to beat the ball out but defender Singo pounced to head home the rebound as Villa’s defenders stood still.

It was Monaco’s third goal from a corner in this season’s Champions League – the joint-most of any side along with AC Milan.

So Villa can’t say they weren’t warned.

Monaco’s tails were up and Martinez had to rescue Villa with a brilliant dive and parry to deny Akliouche after Tielemans gave the ball away cheaply in midfield.

Villa tried to respond but Morgan Rogers skied a shot over on the half-volley and Majecki plucked a curling Digne free-kick out rather acrobatically.

Buendia was Villa’s most creative player and threaded the ball through to Bailey whose shot was palmed high over by Majecki.

The Pole in Monaco’s goal was beginning to frustrate Villa and he was at it again in first-half stoppage time.

Buendia played in Watkins who drilled a low shot towards the far corner but Majecki got down brilliantly to touch the ball around his post. 

However seconds later Villa had a huge let-off when Minamino played in Akliouche who had the goal at his mercy.

But the 22-year-old French Algerian panicked and blazed over.

Villa carved out an early opening after the break but Rogers’ shot, with the outside of his boot, flew agonisingly wide when he seemed set to score.

However, Villa had another let-off when Akliouche stole in behind Villa’s defence to prod the ball home from Vanderson’s cross – only to be flagged offside.

Emery had seen enough and sent on Jhon Duran to partner Watkins as Bailey made way.

But Monaco were proving more than a match for Villa and it took a stunning sliding tackle from Mings to block Aleksandr Golovin when the substitute seemed certain to score on the breakaway.

Duran had one last attempt with an overhead kick which flew over.

But it was too little, way too late for Villa.