Unai Emery has praised the contribution of John McGinn has Aston Villa secured a 2-0 win over Lille to advance to the last eight of the Europa League.
The Scottish midfielder made his first home appearance since returning from an injury layoff and delivered a masterclass, including netting the opener in the encounter.
Leon Bailey, who was recalled from his loan spell at Roma in January, added a second late on to seal the win and complete an impressive 3-0 aggregate win over the French side.
Speaking after the clash, Emery was pleased with the return of McGinn, who continues to work his way back to full fitness.
“He needs minutes and today he added minutes for him and for the team. Getting fit again, I think will be very important. Today he played 70 minutes, progressively getting better”, Emery said
“First half, he was again recovering confidence, playing left side, feeling confident there. Of course, if we can recover players like him, Youri Tielemans and Matty Cash, after two matches out, we can perform better.”
After a dull first half, Aston Villa broke the deadlock with a stunning counterattacking move finished off by McGinn.
Bailey added a second in the 85th minute to complete the win, to rhe delight of Emery who praised his team’s consistency in Europe
“I am happy how we performed in the two matches, how we tried to play serious, being organised, respecting the opponent”, Emery added.
“Not so brilliant those two matches, but consistent, defending well, dominating when we could dominate and when we had our momentum to be even ruthless against them.
“I think we needed it. We needed those two matches to show this competitive way”, the Spaniard concluded.
Aston Villa will now face Italian side Bologna in the last eight of the Europa League next month.
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