Captain John McGinn fired Aston Villa to their first win of the season as Unai Emery's side edged a limited Bologna 1-0 at Villa Park to open their Europa League campaign with three hard-earned points.
McGinn struck from the edge of the box after 13 minutes, but Villa did little else to suggest their early-season slump is over, with Ollie Watkins missing a second-half penalty and Marco Bizot needing a late save from Martin Vitik to preserve the lead.
McGinn picks his spot from distance
Evann Guessand had already drawn a sharp low save from Lukasz Skorupski when McGinn squeezed his shot from 20 yards between a defensive leg and a post, with the goalkeeper unsighted. It was the Scotland midfielder's second goal against Bologna after netting in last season's Champions League and his fourth European strike from outside the box since the start of 2023-24, more than any other player in that period.