Emi Buendia and John McGinn helped maintain Aston Villa’s winning streak with a battling 2-0 victory at Feyenoord on a night of controversial refereeing decisions in the Europa League.
Villa were on the ropes for much of the first hour, relying on stand-in goalkeeper Marco Bizot to make a series of important stops after Emi Martinez was injured in the warm-up.
But Buendia’s classy finish and McGinn’s conversion after a surging run from Donyell Malen took Unai Emery’s side to a third straight win in all competitions.
The pair were both scorers in Sunday’s Premier League victory over Fulham and – despite some nervy moments in Rotterdam – Villa are finally gaining some momentum this season.
The contest could have played out very differently, though, had two huge first-half calls from referee Rade Obrenovic gone another way – with the official later apologising to Feyenoord boss Robin van Persie for ruling out a legitimate goal.
First, Obrenovic unusually stuck with his decision to only show Anel Ahmedhodzic a yellow card for a last-man foul on Ollie Watkins, despite VAR sending him to the pitchside monitor for a review on 13 minutes. Watkins was heading towards the box and no other defender looked like catching him.
The ref then disallowed a header from Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda from a corner, when he spotted Tsuyoshi Watanabe putting his arm across Matty Cash as the cross came in. It was a generous let-off for the visitors, with Cash unlikely to have been able to prevent the goal.
“That was a clear goal for us,” Van Persie told TNT Sports. “The ref said sorry to me during half-time. I asked him, ‘can you explain what just happened because nothing happened’. Then he said sorry. He thought someone was blocked but he said sorry a couple of times. That’s a shame – it had a big influence on the game.”
With Bizot sharp to twice keep out Luciano Valente amid eight saves on the night, and Ezri Konsa and Pau Torres throwing themselves in the way of Sem Steijn shots, Villa somehow kept Feyenoord at bay in front of the raucous home crowd.
Evann Guessand smashed against the outside of a post from Ian Maatsen’s cutback at the other end but there hadn’t been much threat on the hosts’ goal until Boubacar Kamara battled to win a 50-50 on the edge of the area to tee up Buendia and McGinn delivered again.
This stadium played host to Villa’s greatest triumph – the 1982 European Cup win. Could this latest victory in Rotterdam set them on the path to more European silverware? They showed the resilience required to be contenders here.
‘A fantastic test!’ Emery delighted with Villa fight
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery to TNT Sports:
“My expectation was, more or less, tough – like the match [was].
“How we were ready to compete and be resilient was very important. The test we had today was a fantastic test.
“I’m so proud of how the players responded.”
On Martinez and Bizot: “You have to be ready, every player. In the training ground, we are trying to focus everybody there for how they have to respond on the field.
“Marco is a very good guy, very good goalkeeper, he’s accepting completely his role and his performing progressively better.
“Today we had six players out injured and not available for today, and the response was fantastic, and it was fantastic how he replaced Emi Martinez.”
‘Be ready!’ Bizot reflects on his dramatic night
Aston Villa’s goalkeeper Marco Bizot celebrates as his side go 2-0 up at Feyenoord
Aston Villa goalkeeper Marco Bizot to TNT Sports:
“It’s a massive victory. I’ve played here in my career many times. I can count on one hand every victory here! But this is a massive victory for Villa – I’m happy!
“[Emi Martinez] felt something during the warm-up. I saw him speaking with officials. The coach told me, ‘he’s going inside, we’re going to warm up a little bit and be ready whenever you’re needed’. That’s what it is.
“Maybe it’s good to do a small warm-up! I’m happy I can help the team.
“It was difficult in the beginning of the season but we’d still got the spirit and hopefully this vibe we have now we can keep up. We’re playing better, we’re more solid, the team I think has more confidence, we score goals!”