‘Scottish Lionel Messi’ - Ex-Hibs ace John McGinn celebrated by Aston Villa

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Ex-Hibs star John McGinn played a pivotal role in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win at Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night.

The 24-year-old struck a brace as the Birmingham side moved into eighth place, two points from the Championship play-off places.

Villa were trailing when McGinn bulldozed his way into the box and slammed a shot past Costel Pantillimon in the Forest goal. However his best was yet to come as he picked the ball up more than 25 yards from goal, took one touch and fizzed an effort into the bottom corner to put his side ahead.

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It was his fifth and sixth goals of the season, including two for Hibs. He hit the headlines earlier in the season with a stunning strike in a defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.

Not only did he score twice against Forest but McGinn also won more duels (9) than any of his team-mates and recovered the ball six times in what was “the complete performance” according to the club on their Twitter account.

The club asked its fans, in relation to McGinn, to complete the sentence: “This man is just...”

There was a wide range of answers, from gushing to amusing to downright weird, with Hibs fans getting involved.

@malachy48: “Sexy”

John McGinn was pivotal as Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest. Picture: Catherine Ivill/GettyJohn McGinn was pivotal as Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty
John McGinn was pivotal as Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest. Picture: Catherine Ivill/Getty

@thevillazone: “Iniesta in disguise.”

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@PeteDobosz: “Sorely missed at Hibs. Tell you what though, love that he is playing well for Villa and he’s idolised alongside Grealish. Thought he might be overshadowed in the middle, but what a pair.”

@Joebushell_: “A meatball.”

@HibeesMc: “A 2016 Scottish Cup winning legend.”

@AV_The_Informer: “a machine.”

@HarryAVL: “McGod”

@adderley97: “Super

@spabrown: “rubbish (let’s just not let other clubs know just how good he is)”

@doigyboy: “So missed by the Hibees”

@arpad_kukli: “McGinnficient”

@Hibbylad: “Wanted back at Hibs.”

@lee_kilken: “Probably the best transfer business Villa have ever done!”

@cullrab: “Apparently not good enough to get a game for Celtic”

@mckinnon410: “...better than Zidane?”

@sutton_sports: “worth over 30 million”

@RaYz_x_Blitz: “The Scottish Lionel Messi”

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@chip_chris: “Immense. Looked sharp after two games out so the rest done him good. He has run himself into the ground.”

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