Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna: McGinn earns Emery's men first win of the season

Aston Villa recorded their first win of the season as they got their Europa League campaign off to a winning start by beating Bologna 1-0.

Match Report

Aston Villa finally got their first victory of the season as they began their Europa League campaign with a 1-0 win over Bologna at Villa Park.

Unai Emery's men had failed to win any of their first five league games of the season, which had left them in 18th place in the Premier League table, but they were cheered on by a strong home support as they made a fast start.

They were close to going in front after just six minutes through Evann Guessand as he was sent clear on goal, but his effort was kept out by goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski. 

It only took Villa seven more minutes to find the breakthrough as captain John McGinn struck a fine effort into the bottom-right corner after being given too much space on the edge of the penalty area.

The home side went close to getting a second as their strong start continued, but Skorupski thwarted Donyell Malen after he had been picked out by Boubacar Kamara.

Bologna grew into the game in the second half, but Villa still had a chance to double their advantage from the penalty spot as Martin Vitik fouled Ollie Watkins inside the area, but Skorupski denied the England international from 12 yards.

There were some nervy moments for Villa as they looked to see the game out, but they got the job done and now have three points from their opening match in the Europa League.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

13' GOAL! Aston Villa 1-0 Bologna (John McGinn)

42' Match Event for Aston Villa vs Bologna

63' Highlight from Aston Villa vs Bologna

68' Penalty Missed!  (Ollie Watkins)

71' Match Event for Aston Villa vs Bologna

93' Match Event for Aston Villa vs Bologna

Line-ups

Aston Villa XI: Marco Bizot, McGinn, Buendia, P. Torres, Kamara, Ngoyo, Matty Cash, Malen, Morgan Rogers, Evann Guessand, Maatsen

Subs: Lindelof, Digne, Mings, Ollie Watkins, Sancho, Elliott, Lamare Bogarde, Andrés García, Sam Proctor, Bradley Burrowes, Russ Oakley

Bologna XI: Skorupski, Freuler, Charalampos Lykogiannis, Bernardeschi, Jhon Lucumí, Jens Odgaard, Lewis Ferguson, Nicolò Cambiaghi, Nadir Zortea, Martin Vitík, Santiago Castro

Subs: Nikola Moro, Orsolini, Federico Ravaglia, Juan Miranda, Thijs Dallinga, Torbjørn Heggem, Emil Holm, Giovanni Fabbian, Jonathan Rowe, Massimo Pessina