An hour before kick-off, the few hundred Aston Villa supporters already there for the game blared over the loudspeakers as the first version of the Champions League anthem rang out, and their mood was similarly exuberant after their team had claimed a comfortable win in their first game. It was fitting that Jacob Ramsey, who joined Villa’s academy aged six, got on the scoresheet, while travelling fans chanted the name of the late 1982 European Cup winner Gary Shaw, another homegrown hero, from start to finish. Ramsey’s goal, scored in comical circumstances, was bookended by fine strikes from Belgian duo Youri Tielemans and Amadou Onana, the latter scoring his third goal of the season.

The game was not uneventful. Substitute Jhon Durán was shown a yellow card for inciting Young Boys’ most ardent fans at one end of the stadium after he thought he could extend his impressive goal-scoring streak and make it 3-0. Durán fired the ball home and then promptly angered the home fans by jumping on the digital advertising boards and screaming with joy. The locals did not take kindly to Durán’s antics and the striker was left red with embarrassment when his goal was disallowed a few minutes later.

On the eve of the match, Tielemans said he felt the excitement of the Villa fans and therefore knew exactly how his goal would have been received from Bern to Birmingham and beyond. Lucas Digne played a corner to John McGinn, whose curved cross found the isolated Tielemans. The midfielder took control of the ball and fired it low into the corner. Austin MacPhee, Villa’s set-piece coach, roared with delight from the edge of Villa’s coaching area.

Villa had hardly threatened up to that point, apart from McGinn, who had missed a chance minutes earlier. After 12 minutes, Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez made the first important save, denying Ebrima Colley before Filip Ugrinic put another effort wide. Villa were slow to adapt to the fast-paced artificial pitch, with Ramsey changing his boots after 18 minutes. Morgan Rogers stared at his studs in frustration and Pau Torres overdid a simple pass.

Tielemans’ strike gave Villa a lead and they dominated from there on. Rogers played Ollie Watkins free but the Villa striker, wearing the yellow shirts, fired a shabby shot wide. Cheikh Niasse then tackled an angry Onana hard and was shown a yellow card.

While Villa’s first goal was a clever move on the training ground, the second was a tragicomedy from Young Boys’ perspective. Banhie Zoukrou cleared Rogers’ pass for Watkins, but Mohamed Ali Camara dawdled in the box and then played the ball back to his goalkeeper David von Ballmoos, who didn’t notice Watkins in the corner of his eye and promptly took him down. It would have been a certain penalty, but Ramsey equalised, touched the ball and scored Villa’s second goal. The travelling fans proudly chanted Shaw’s name even louder. “When he gets the ball he has to score, Gary, Gary Shaw,” they chanted on a loop.

Watkins turned to celebrate, thinking he had made it 3-0 in the 43rd minute, but his goal was disallowed for a bizarre handball decision. It was almost as if video assistant referee Willy Delajod took pity on Young Boys, who went from a tough match against Villa to a surrender without a fight in the blink of an eye. Watkins’ first attempt on the turn was blocked by full-back Zachary Athekame, but his second flew high into the net, presumably with a helping hand.

The second half threatened to pass without much excitement. Diego Carlos replaced Lamare Bogarde at half-time, Unai Emery played Ezri Konsa at right-back. Durán replaced Watkins on the hour mark, who was clearly unhappy about being substituted. Ramsey’s stinging shot was tipped over by Von Ballmoos, and at the other end Silvère Ganvoula forced Martínez into a two-handed but ultimately safe save.

Then came the real drama: Durán converted a clever pass, but another Villa goal was disallowed for handball. Referee Georgi Kabakov initially allowed play to continue when Onana was found to be handballing on the halfway line, but after a VAR review the goal was later disallowed. Only after Durán made the mindless decision to celebrate wildly in front of a packed Young Boys goal. Onana finally made it 3-0 with a low, thumping shot from distance.