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We asked for your thoughts after Thursday’s Europa League last-16 first leg between Lille and Aston Villa.
Here are some of your comments:
Ian: A good away win for Villa. Still issues in the final third creating chances. Overall, a much better performance than against Wolves and Chelsea, and will give them more confidence.
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Mossy: Got to be happy with a clean sheet and a goal advantage going back to Villa Park, but we should have scored more and let’s hope we don’t rue the several good chances to bury the tie. I know Ollie Watkins scored but he really does like to take another touch, which is normally too heavy or too much. He’s better with his head. Tough place to get a result and they will be happy with it. On to Old Trafford for a massive game next. UTV!
Ian: Very solid and professional performance, but would have liked to see us a bit more clinical in the final third and we need to move the ball a little quicker. Good to see John McGinn back and hopefully he can play bigger role at the weekend. If we can get decent result against Manchester United and finish the job against Lille it would set us up very nicely for the run-in. Keep the faith!
Robert: A decent performance and result that sets us up nicely for the second leg, capped off by the return of McGinn, which bodes well for the run-in. Villa continued to be wasteful in the final third and Ollie should have had at least one more, but I can’t complain – a win is a win and we were desperate for one.
Martin: We defended as a team and wanted to calm the game down when needed. If Watkins didn’t score the fans would have wanted him out for Tammy Abraham, but he showed up and got us the all-important goal. Still thought Emery picked the wrong team with players like Jadon Sancho, Emi Buendia and, partly, Watkins. Having McGinn back was brilliant as we’ve got a tough few weeks coming up and he’ll be needed every game. Overall, a reassuring performance from the Villans.