Aston Villa were 3-1 up after 43 minutes but were made to sweat for their first win of the season, emerging victorious from an entertaining Champions League opener against Club Brugge. John McGinn, who struck the only goal when Villa belatedly got their season up and running last September against Bologna, opened the scoring before goals from Emi Buendía and a first for Nicolas Jackson appeared to put Villa out of sight at half-time.
The Belgian side have become familiar foes since Villa returned to the big time, the glitziest club competition of them all; a freakish Tyrone Mings handball gifted the hosts a penalty, and subsequently victory, in 2024-25 and this time Aaron Wan-Bissaka conceded a second-half penalty to plunge a seesawing contest back into the balance. Villa had to live dangerously but equally could have won by a bigger margin.
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