Overview

• John McGinn struck from 20 yards in the 13th minute to secure a 1-0 victory at Villa Park and launch Aston Villa’s European campaign.
• Substitute Ollie Watkins won a penalty but had his tame effort saved by Lukasz Skorupski, prolonging his goal drought.
• Marco Bizot, selected over Emiliano Martínez, protected the lead with late saves, including from Martin Vitik, after Santiago Castro hit the crossbar.
• Unai Emery made four changes to the XI, benching Watkins and introducing Jadon Sancho from the bench, as Villa scored their first home goal of the season.
• The win brings short-term relief after a meagre scoring run in the league and follows the resignation of Monchi from his football operations role earlier in the week.