Midlands | Aston Villa supporters analyse Bologna win

Aston Villa 1 - 0 Bologna

Villa fans discuss how a nervous Aston Villa scraped their first win of the season with a narrow victory over Bologna.

Author | Peter Grainger 

Stadium | Villa Park

Pictures from the stands

Unai Emery’s side opened their Europa League campaign with three points but offered little to suggest their stuttering start is behind them. 

What do the fans have to say?

Stephen: It is a bit of everything. An improvement, a confidence boost, a win, another clean sheet and something to build on.

Michael: Not the most convincing display but given the way we have started the season, a win is a win.

Karl: It is a start. A win is a win, but Morgan Rogers, Evann Guessand and Ollie Watkins are letting the side down. They should be on the bench with Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho brought in for the next match.

Priya: Forget the quality, the win was down to our captain fantastic John McGinn. Watkins missed the penalty but did well overall, and if he keeps working hard the goals will come. We were hanging on at times in the second half and Marco Bizot deserves credit for keeping Bologna out. Rogers is a puzzle. He looks a different player for England than he does in a Villa shirt.

Near the end of the game

Jamie: That was our best first half of the season. We looked hungry again. Pau Torres gave us something extra and Boubacar Kamara lifts the whole team. The only disappointment was that we did not take more of our chances.

Robbie: Some fans should be ashamed of themselves for ironically cheering a completed Rogers pass in the second half. His form has been poor, but he does not deserve that. Pleased with the win. Morale has clearly dipped, but a goal, a clean sheet, a new Tifo and Watkins’ unusual penalty run up made for an entertaining night. Hopefully, this acts as a proper reset for the season.

Kenneth: Villa again lost too many duels and second balls. Emery is right to demand more effort as the team is clearly in a difficult spell.

Terrence: The criticism that Rogers got from some so-called “fans” was a disgrace. He has been a fantastic player for us, and he deserves support from us.