McGinn strike kickstarts Villa to end winless run

At last, a first win of the season for Aston Villa. They made harder work of it than they might have done against limited opponents, and there were rather more nervous moments than there probably should have been, but a win's a win, and after the start to the season Villa have had, that's the most important thing.

- Jonathan Wilson

John McGinn offers his distinctive celebration after putting Villa ahead

It is only just over five months since Villa Park last hosted European football, but it feels a lifetime ago. That was the Champions League quarterfinal as Villa mounted a rousing fightback against Paris Saint-Germain that, although it fell short, rattled the eventual champions.

Coming after a series of memorable European nights - the win against Bayern, the victory in Leipzig, the last-16 demolition of Club Brugge - there was a clear sense then that that was where Villa belonged, and there seemed little reason to think they could not become Champions League regulars.

Emi Martínez's red card at Old Trafford and Villa's subsequent defeat on the final day of last season thrust them into the Europa League, engendering a sense of anticlimax that hasn't yet gone away. Only six players who started against PSG also started against Bologna, while Monchi, the sporting director, resigned on Tuesday.