FOOTBALL – Aston Villa made it two wins from two in the Europa League with a 2-0 victory away to Feyenoord yesterday, where second half goals from Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn earned the visitors three hard earned points in Rotterdam.
Unai Emery’s side followed up their 1-0 success over Bologna with another win, but Villa needed to weather a first half storm from the hosts before coming out on top.
Villa were forced into a change before kick-off, with Marco Bizot replacing keeper Emi Martinez, and the late call-up was a busy man in the opening half.
Bizot twice denied Anis Hadj Moussa and pulled off an impressive save from Luciano Valente, with Villa’s Ian Maatsen making a goal-line clearance.
Villa came close early in the second half, with Evann Guessand’s strike coming off the post and they took the lead in the 61st minute.
Boubacar Kamara layed the ball off to Buendia at the edge of the area who took one touch to control and made no mistake as his shot flew into the bottom corner, and 11 minutes from time Villa wrapped up the win.
Donyell Malen raced into the box before losing possession but McGinn was there to pounce and smash the ball to the net and Villa are on maximum points after two games.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest suffered a narrow home defeat against Danish side FC Midtjylland in the Europa League.
First-half goals from Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech Sørensen, either side of Dan Ndoye’s equaliser, before Valdemar Andreasen netted a third for the away side. Chris Wood scored from the penalty spot in added time.
Ange Postecoglou’s side return to domestic action on Sunday when they travel to St James’ Park to face Newcastle United.
After a quiet start in terms of chances on Trentside, Forest began to impose themselves on the Danish side. Elliot Anderson’s drive from range went over the bar before Callum Hudson-Odoi’s strike drifted just wide of goal.
The visitors took the lead on 18 minutes when Diao poked in from a free-kick.
Forest were straight on the front foot after falling behind, with Ndoye’s effort from distance turned away by Elias Rafn Ólafsson in the Midtjylland goal. From the resulting corner, Nikola Milenković’s flick was tipped over by the Danish stopper.
Minutes later, the Reds were deservedly level when Ndoye finished off a flowing counter-attack, placing Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross into the Midtjylland net.
The away side, however, restored their lead almost immediately when Sørensen scored from a corner. Despite Forest enjoying plenty of play in the Midtjylland half, the visitors went into the break ahead.