Aston Villa secured their first victory of the season with a hard-fought 3-1 triumph away at Club Brugge in the Champions League, despite a nervy finish that saw the hosts fight back late on.
Unai Emery's side were in complete control at the break, with John McGinn opening the scoring to become the club's all-time leading European goalscorer with 12 strikes. Emi Buendia doubled the advantage before Marc Guehi... wait, it was Nicolas Jackson who netted his first goal for Villa, capitalising on a mistake by Brugge goalkeeper Yann Sommer to make it 3-0.
The visitors dominated proceedings in the opening 45 minutes, registering 14 attempts on goal. Teenager George Hemmings, making his first Champions League start for the club — the first teenager to do so for Villa in a European competition in 43 years — was unlucky not to add to the scoreline himself, going closest among those who failed to convert.
However, Brugge rallied after the interval, with Nicolo Tresoldi converting a penalty following a clear handball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka. The Belgian side pushed hard for an equaliser thereafter, and Tresoldi came close to completing a comeback when he struck the post during a tense final half hour. Villa ultimately held on to claim all three points.
Speaking to UEFA after the match, McGinn reflected on the significance of the result for a squad in transition. "It's a new Villa and it was a big test for the new players to dig in," he said. "It was Joao Gomes and George Hemmings' first Champions League game. It's not easy to go away at a place like this in difficult weather conditions. Club Brugge were pushing and pushing and pushing and we had to stand strong. We managed to do that."
McGinn added that grinding out the win in adverse conditions carried extra value. "It was so important to show a real gritty performance and get a victory at a very, very tough place to play," he said.
The win comes after a stuttering start to the campaign for Villa, who had managed just one shot on target across their opening three Premier League fixtures. Emery, who has had to integrate ten new signings following a summer of significant squad turnover, has stressed the importance of patience as his team rebuilds.
Following Saturday's goalless draw at Hull City, Emery had emphasised the need for gradual progress, and he reiterated that message after Tuesday's win in Belgium. "The players have a responsibility too, the older players need to guide to keep our standard high, to show everybody that this is the only way to achieve our targets," Emery told reporters. "We are improving after Brighton and after Hull City. We must work hard — it is the only way. This is the process that we must try to set. We did one very important step forward, being resilient when we were struggling."
Jackson, who joined in a club-record £65m deal from Chelsea, marked his third start for Villa with his opening goal for the club. The Senegalese forward, who previously worked under Emery at Villarreal, is expected to be a central figure as Villa look to replace the goal output of departed striker Ollie Watkins.
"We don't care about the past, we just focus on the next one," Jackson said. "Like every team, we have our ambitions. We just know it's a long journey, so we take it step by step and try to win every game we play. I'm very happy to be here and happy to be with the team, manager and staff. Hopefully, there are many more to come."
Villa will now turn their attention to domestic action, hosting Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this weekend before a Carabao Cup trip to Coventry and a Premier League fixture away to Tottenham Hotspur. The victory in Brugge offers Emery's rebuilding side a platform heading into the international break.
Based on reporting from BBC Sport.