Aston Villa vs Bologna. UEFA Champions League.
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Match report as Aston Villa make it three wins from three in the Champions League; John McGinn returned to starting line-up and netted the opener before Jhon Duran doubled the lead; Unai Emery's side sit top of the Champions League standings
Wednesday 23 October 2024 15:15, UK
Unai Emery said "everything is under control" following Jhon Duran's reaction to being subbed off in Aston Villa's 2-0 Champions League win over Bologna on Tuesday.
The Colombia international had doubled Villa's lead after John McGinn's opener in the second half but was replaced by Ollie Watkins two minutes later when his celebrations had come to an end.
After exiting the field and passing his manager on the touchline, Duran approached the bench and appeared to strike it in frustration.
"No. I manage everything and the reaction as well," Emery said when asked about the reaction. "Everything, we send a message in the dressing room which is respect. Try to be mature and responsible. It is under our control."
Duran marked his first Champions League start with a goal as Villa secured another victory to remain perfect in the competition this season.
Both teams came out of the blocks well as an end-to-end affair unfolded in the opening stages of the game.
Boosted by immense support from the travelling Bologna supporters, who packed out the away end, Thijs Dallinga came closest to opening the scoring for the visitors but was denied by the outstretched arm of Emiliano Martinez.
Villa grew into the game following the early scare and quickly took control of proceedings after that, with both Duran and John McGinn calling Lukasz Skorupski into action before the break.
After being left frustrated in the first half, Villa restarted the fixture with the same vigour in the final third and finally broke the deadlock through a long-range free-kick from McGinn (55).
Despite sounding spectacular, it was a fairly fortunate opener from the Villa captain.
Standing over the set-piece, the Scotland star teased a ball into the box, which evaded players from both sides, before curling into the back of the net.
Duran netted Villa's second with a neat finish at the near-post nine minutes later shortly before being substituted off.
Unai Emery's side are now sitting pretty at the top of the new Champions League format and become just the third team to win their opening three games of the competition without conceding a goal.
Aston Villa captain John McGinn speaking to TNT Sports: "We don't want to stop here. It puts us in a great position. Some players are back and now we look really strong.
"What we are building here is amazing.
"This is home for me. It is my seventh season here, we've had ups and downs. It has been a roller-coaster. Hopefully we can keep climbing."
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery speaking to TNT Sports: "We are playing seriously, very focused and mature in everything. We showed it. We reacted very well after conceding chances in the first 15 minutes.
"Champions League is very difficult but we had to be consistent in our gameplan and we did fantastic.
He added: "I want to feel something like a natural way and not as a surprise because we are playing good performances. There are other contenders and favourites for the top eight, but we are of course feeling comfortable."
On Duran's goal, he said: "When he thought we was going to change him, he accelerated and scored a goal - it was fantastic. He wanted to play more as he thought he could score more."
Sky Sports' Patrick Rowe:
A lot has been made of fixture congestion and growing injury concerns across teams - and Aston Villa have been no different to any other in this respect.
In the last home game against Manchester United, Emery saw Ezri Konsa limp off in the first half and was already without captain McGinn who had picked up an injury back in September.
His squad looked thin and alarm bells were ringing. But on Tuesday night, Villa showed their strength in numbers.
McGinn, the scorer of the first, made his return to the starting line-up and Duran, who was given a start by the Villa boss, doubled it shortly after.
Ross Barkley's introduction at half-time helped propel Villa forward and long-term absentee Boubacar Kamara also made his first appearance since February.
The depth Emery has at his disposal was the deciding factor in this fixture and will be hugely important throughout the campaign.
The Villa boss stated prior to this game he wanted to win a trophy and cannot waste time at the club - having depth like he called upon here will improve their chances massively.
Bologna boss Vincenzo Italiano speaking in his post match press conference: "We must do more, me first because we are close to something that can give us some satisfaction but because these are the results, we must speed up all of us from all points of view because it's not going well.
"For me, the first goal started from a counter-attack that could've been stopped. I also think [Remo] Freuler got the ball for the free-kick that was scored. In the next 10 minutes, they took over the pitch and gave us some trouble. The team showed their qualities but we must grow up all of us, a lot.
"They have a high intensity and they are physically strong. When they counter-attack, they can turn a game around. They are of a very high level and I think as we played against Liverpool and Aston Villa, we have some good hints.
"Having said this, they are two very high level teams - they will go very far."
