'I'm delighted': Ally McCoist thrilled by what he saw 'brilliant' Aston Villa star do vs Bologna
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They say you make your own luck, and that certainly feels pertinent when describing the goal which set Aston Villa on their way to a third successive Champions League victory over Bologna.
After cruising past BSC Young Boys on matchday one and after Unai Emery’s goalscoring sensation Jhon Duran stunned Bayern Munich in their second fixture of the European campaign, Aston Villa maintained their 100 per cent record in what is turning out to be a dream return to continental action.
It took 55 minutes for the Midland giants to make their superiority count.
As John McGinn stood over a dead ball close to the right-hand touchline and whipped a fizzing cross into the far corner, Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski could do nothing but hope.
Pinned to his goalline, Skorupski watched helplessly as McGinn’s delivery curved across the face and into the far corner.
And, for Scotland legend Ally McCoist, there was nothing fortunate at about the goal which put Villa ahead against their Italian opponents even if McGinn would admit himself that this was more of a cross than a shot.
Aston Villa beat Bologna in Champions League as John McGinn opens scoring
“It is a great delivery,” Ally McCoist said during TNT Sport’s live coverage. “All McGinn does is he puts it into an area, outside the post coming back in for player to attack. And, if they miss it, if the delivery is accurate, its always got the chance of doing what you see right there
“It is a brilliant ball it really is. If he puts it into that area, the goalkeeper can't come. It bounces and its by him.
“I am delighted.”
Watching his compatriot open his European account, McCoist was not the only one ‘delighted’ to see Aston Villa add another chapter to their remarkable success story, with Emery the author of this sprawling tale.
"I'm very happy," Emery said at his post-match press conference.
"I'm delighted with the supporters helping us today and how they were transmitting their energy. I'm really happy because we responded on the field playing a really serious match in the 90 minutes.
"We were playing being mature, trying to respect them and being ambitious to play to win. We tried to push in everything; without the ball we pressed well, with the ball we were breaking their man-to-man press.”
Unai Emery demands Aston Villa keep the focus
Aston Villa, for whom Youri Tielemans and the mesmerising Morgan Rogers were outstanding again as Duran found the net once more, have Club Brugge, Juventus, RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic coming up in their remaining first phase fixtures.
"I'm really happy because we won 2-0,” adds Emery. “We had chances, we controlled the game like we were planning before and now we keep going. We are happy and we have to be delighted with the way we are doing in the Champions League, but there are still a lot of matches to play and we have to keep our balance.
"This is our challenge, my challenge, and I'm sending the message to the players: we have to keep the level increasing.
"This high level we are trying to keep is the most challenging we can have in Champions League, in the Premier League.
"The players must be committed for this challenge like I think we need."
