FC Zurich 2-1 Aston Villa

sundaymirror.co.uk 13/07/2008

Steve Sidwell, Aston Villa's new £5m midfielder, made a low-key debut as Martin O'Neill's side were beaten 2-1 by FC Zurich.

Sidwell only arrived the night before the game, after completing his move from Chelsea, and played for the first half.

Villa fell behind after just four minutes when Martin Laursen fouled Florian Stahel and Almen Abdi converted the penalty.

They levelled in the 17th minute thanks to the pace and power of Gabriel Agbonlahor.

The England Under-21 star held off the challenge of Heinz Barmettler to score.

But Zat Knight fouled Admir Mehmedi 11 minutes from time and Abdi again beat Stuart Taylor with his spot-kick.