Aston Villa 1-0 Zrinjski Mostar: John McGinn heads winner in stoppage time

Aston Villa captain John McGinn was thrilled to come through a “must-win” game with all three points after a nail-biter against Zrinjski Mostar in the Europa Conference League.

However, midfielder McGinn met Matty Cash’s cross in the fourth added minute to earn the team’s first win in the competition.

McGinn told TNT Sports: “It’s huge because of the way we started the group. Tonight was a must-win, there is no doubt about that. After tonight, if we had a point it would not be the end of the world, but it was not what we wanted.

“This is the demands if you want to play in Europe. We tried for years and now we need to try and improve.

“I have been through a lot with this club, so to score our first goal back at Villa Park in European football is absolutely mental and hopefully many more to come.”

Despite being a target for Celtic, McGinn opted to sign for Villa ahead of the 2018-19 season when they were playing in the Championship.

It proved to be a great acquisition for the Midlands outfit as he scored in the play-off final at the end of that campaign, helping Villa to beat Derby 2-1 and secure a return to the Premier League.

The win over Zrinjski was no less than Villa deserved and is their first at home in the group stage of a European competition since they beat Ajax 2-1 in the Uefa Cup in October 2008.

Villa had plenty of the ball in the first half but were ponderous in possession and lacked real fluidity, finding it difficult to break down a well organised Zrinjski defensive unit.

Sitting deep in a 5-4-1 formation, the visitors from Bosnia-Herzegovina were happy to soak up pressure with the intention to hit on the counter-attack. That approach almost paid dividends when Mario Ticinovic broke and delivered a low cross for Nemanja Bilbija; however, the striker fired straight at Emiliano Martinez.

Nicolo Zaniolo had the best first-half chance for the hosts when he acrobatically met Lucas Digne’s deflected cross, but his bicycle kick was saved by goalkeeper Marko Maric.

Villa looked much more dynamic after the break, thanks largely to the introduction of Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Cash and a change in shape – opting to play with three central defenders and deploying wing-backs to try to claim real estate further up the field.

The chances started to flow, with Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa and Youri Tielemans testing Maric.

Just as the game seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, McGinn nodded home to get his side on the board in the competition.

All four sides in Group E have three points and a goal difference of zero after their opening two games.

Patience pays for Villa

Consistency has been a problem for Villa this season and this marks the first time they have won back-to-back games since August.

Unai Emery’s decision to make six changes from the side that beat Brighton 6-1 in the Premier League on Saturday almost backfired, but he took positive action at half-time to set his team on the front foot.

This game was hugely contrasting to the meeting with Brighton, who pressed high up the field, and here Villa had to bide their time to get in front.

But this was not the first time they have shown character to come strong late in a game this season, having scored twice in stoppage time to beat Crystal Palace 3-1 last month.

The introduction of Watkins, Luiz and Cash was key to Villa’s success, with the latter laying on the assist for McGinn.

Villa could have let heads drop after Maric stood firm on several occasions, but they persisted and eventually savoured their reward.