Hibs hero fires Aston Villa to Europa League victory as former Hearts coach plays key role in winning moment

A Hibs hero has fired Aston Villa to a narrow victory against Bologna in Europe - with some of the credit going to a former Hearts coach.

The Villans have had a winless start to the Premier League season but John McGinn’s low driven effort in the first half sealed a 1-0 home success over Serie A opposition in their first league phase game in the Europa League. A well-worked corner allowed the 2016 Scottish Cup-winning hero to take a touch and blast low into the bottom corner.

While the Hibs favourites comes away as the match winner, Robbie Savage has identified Austin MacPhee as the real architehct behind the goal. He is the set-piece coach at Aston Villa under manager Unai Emery, and while his name may have alluded the Forest Green Rovers manager on TNT Sports co-commentary, he was keen to ensure praise went to the unseen figure. MacPhee spent between 2016-2020 in the backroom at Hearts and also filled in as caretaker boss after Craig Levein’s 2019 sacking.

Robbie Savage on Aston Villa goal vs Bologna

He said: “What a brilliant corner routine, I am not sure who the set piece coach is, but look at this. It’s so well worked. The second phase, good position and not the cleanest of strikes, but John McGinn and the Villa fans won’t care. That first touch cushions it and allows him to hit it quickly, big goal. Credit for the set-piece coach, brilliantly well worked.

McGinn said of the game: "It was important to get a win at home. Not our strongest start to the season, especially here. We probably could have made it a little more comfortable in the first half. They are a good team, come and play man for man. Really difficult to play against but we had chances, missed the penalty which could have made it a more difficult night. At this stage, we'll take anything that's coming.

“It's a collective responsibility. We've not been good enough, it's as simple as that. As professionals we can take the praise when it comes, we've had a lot of praise over the past few seasons and we're rightly being criticised at the minute. We know how important the league is so we'll recover quickly.

John McGinn on Aston Villa victory vs Bologna

“We need to pick up in the league, last season we went on a long run without a run and it was very easy to panic but in there we are professionals. We're not happy with what's been happening and the results we're getting. We know we need to turn it round but there's quality there and tonight we showed it. It's not enough."

Boss Emery said: ““I’m grateful for our supporters. We are starting again in Europe, three years in a row playing in Europe in different competitions – Conference League, Champions League and Europa League. Of course, to be in Europe is an opportunity to get minutes with the players, get confidence playing matches, it’s a way for a trophy, it’s a way for Europe for next year.

“The Premier League is the most important because it’s the competition through which we are achieving our objectives normally. If you are winning a cup, you can get one objective, if you are winning something in Europe, as well, it’s an objective. We need now to try and keep our consistency, like we did here, in 90 minutes I think we played a difficult match. We needed to adapt to them, we need to improve some moments and we needed to fight a lot of duels on the field and we did it.”