Aston Villa: John McGinn compared to Andres Iniesta in 2-1 win v Lille at Villa Park
Aston Villa captain John McGinn received the highest of praise from Lee Hendrie after scoring a sensational goal in the 2-1 win against Lille in the Europa Conference League.
Hendrie, a former Villans player himself, admitted McGinn scored a “super goal” as he compared him to Andres Iniesta for the moment at Villa Park.
McGinn’s first-time strike curled through the crowd and into the bottom corner past Lucas Chevalier, doubling Villa’s lead to 2-0 at the time with a goal that had just 0.05 xG behind it.
Reporting on the match live for Sky Sports, Hendrie said: “Just outside the 18-yard box he steps up; there’s only one place it’s going with ‘McGinniesta’ because he just strokes it into that far corner. Technically brilliant.”
Marvel McGinn leading Aston Villa’s march to European glory
There’s leading from the front, and then there’s McGinn’s performance against Lille.
Having already set up Ollie Watkins’ 13th-minute opener with a threaded pass that SofaScore‘s expected assist metrics only ranked at 0.17 xA, he also completed 15 of his 17 attempted passes (88%).
McGinn played the full 90 minutes in behind Watkins and late substitute Jhon Duran, eventually registering 32 touches and attempting four crosses and long balls apiece.
McGinn also laid on two key passes for team-mates and won two free-kicks, while also conceding three himself in a dogged display alongside the flair he highlighted for the goal.
His sole big chance created saw Watkins score early on for Unai Emery’s side, while his sumptuous goal from range was also the only shot he attempted throughout the entire match – how’s that for accuracy?
Bafode Diakhite’s late reply gives Lille hope going into the second leg at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, but with their Flying Scotsman on this kind of form, Villa will certainly take some stopping as they bid to finish on the winning side of their first European quarter-final since 1998.
In other Aston Villa news, four players may have to leave Villa Park this summer.
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