Latest sports news: McGinn fires Villa to Europa win

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John McGinn

An early goal from John McGinn helped Aston Villa kick off their Europa League campaign with a gritty 1-0 group stage win over Bologna on Friday (AEST), while Olivier Giroud came off the bench to nod in a late winner in Lille’s dramatic 2-1 triumph against SK Brann.

Scottish midfielder McGinn’s decisive goal came in the 13th minute, setting Villa off to a positive start in their European campaign at Villa Park.McGinn broke the deadlock when a cleverly worked short corner found him in space outside the box.

With precision, he struck a low shot that nestled into the bottom corner, leaving Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski rooted to the spot.

Ollie Watkins had a golden opportunity to double Villa’s lead in the 68th minute from the penalty spot, after being brought down by Martin Vitik.

But his tame effort was easily saved by Skorupski.

Just minutes later, Bologna came agonisingly close to an equaliser when Santiago Castro’s powerful header crashed against the crossbar and bounced out of play.

Villa has endured a frustrating start domestically, with three draws and two losses in the Premier League.

But it has a coach who knows how to succeed in Europe: Unai Emery is the most successful manager in the second-tier Europa League with four titles, three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal.

Emery led Villa to placings of fourth and sixth in the last two Premier League seasons and to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

But this season Villa is winless in the Premier League, scoring a single goal in five games and already eliminated from the English League Cup.McGinn admitted the win was vital.”It was important to get a win at home. Not our strongest start to the season, especially here,” he told TNT Sports.

“Really difficult to play against (Bologna) but we had chances, missed the penalty which could have made it a more difficult night.”At this stage, we’ll take anything that’s coming.”

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