Europa League: Aston Villa earn win against Feyenoord; Nottingham Forest lose to Midtjylland

LONDON: Aston Villa made it two wins from two in the Europa League with a 2-0 victory away to Feyenoord on Thursday, where second-half goals from Emiliano Buendia and John McGinn earned the visitor three hard-earned points in Rotterdam.

Unai Emery’s side followed up its 1-0 success over Bologna with another win, but Villa needed to weather a first-half storm from the hosts before coming out on top.

Villa was forced into a change before kick-off, with Marco Bizot replacing keeper Emi Martinez, and the late call-up was a busy man in the opening half.

Bizot twice denied Anis Hadj Moussa and pulled off an impressive save from Luciano Valente, with Villa’s Ian Maatsen making a goal-line clearance.

Villa came close early in the second half, with Evann Guessand’s strike coming off the post, and it took the lead in the 61st minute.

Boubacar Kamara laid the ball off to Buendia at the edge of the area, who took one touch to control and made no mistake as his shot flew into the bottom corner, and 11 minutes from time, Villa wrapped up the win.

Donyell Malen raced into the box before losing possession, but McGinn was there to pounce and smash the ball to the net, and Villa are on maximum points after two games.

Nottingham Forest lost 3-2 to Danish club Midtjylland in its first home game in a European competition in almost 30 years, leaving recently hired manager Ange Postecoglou without a win after six games in charge.

Some Forest fans seemed to be running out of patience with the Australian, chanting for him to be sacked during the final minutes of the game.

Midtjylland led 3-1 after substitute Valdemar Andreasen scored in the 88th minute, before Chris Wood reduced the deficit from the spot in stoppage time.

Lille keeper Berke Ozer saved three consecutive penalties to help his side secure a 1-0 victory at AS Roma, thanks to Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s early strike, while Bologna and SC Freiburg battled to a 1-1 draw.

Braga claimed its first-ever away win against Scottish opposition in UEFA competition, defeating Celtic 2-0 in Glasgow thanks to goals from Ricardo Horta and Gabri Martinez. Agencies

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