Aston Villa 2 Lille 0: (3-0 on aggregate) - Second half goals see Villa into third straight European quarter final

Unai Emery will be hoping history now repeats itself.

For now the captain’s goal merely inspired a second leg win over Lille to keep them on course in the Europa League. 

Next up is a quarter-final with either Bologna or Roma next month. 

The former were the team against whom McGinn scored his first goal of the season, back in September, to spark a then insipid campaign to life.

Whether his latest strike can have the same effect will become evident as soon as Sunday, when they host West Ham in a key Premier League fixture.

Villa’s recent run hasn’t been quite so bad as the one which saw them fail to win any of their first six fixtures.

But just two wins in nine matches has put what once looked a certain top-five Premier League finish into question.

Going out of the Europa League and losing the chance to end the club’s 30-year trophy drought was unthinkable and McGinn, assisted by a piece of brilliance from goalkeeper Emi Martinez - once more the scourge of Lille - ensured they saw the job through.

Villa, leading 1-0 from last week’s first leg, were struggling for momentum before the keeper’s quick thinking, nine minutes into the second half, led to McGinn scoring and lifting the tension among home supporters.

Leon Bailey’s first goal in more than a year added further gloss to the result.

Villa celebrated Emery becoming the fastest manager to reach 100 wins before kick-off. This 101st victory means they have reached the quarter-finals of European competition for three straight seasons, an achievement the manager has quite rightly pointed out would have felt a "dream" when he was appointed in November, 2022.

But the recent slump in form has been worrying and Emery’s programme notes included a plea for supporters to “drive” the team forward.

McGinn, who on Wednesday had declared it the responsibility of the players to get Villa Park “rocking”, tried to do that in a literal sense inside the opening minute, picking up the ball in midfield and driving at the visiting defence.

His ambitious shot went well wide but this was still a bright start from Villa. Soon after Rogers played Sancho into space behind the Lille backline and his pull back was met by Luiz at the edge of the box, the shot hitting a defender before cannoning into McGinn and over the bar.

That was as exciting as it got for a long time.

The next big chance came to Lille, Romain Perraud sending in a cross from the left which Ayyoub Bouaddi headed over from close range.

It was a warning for Villa but otherwise the visitors were happy to frustrate. The placards previously used to celebrate Emery were now being made into paper aeroplanes.

Villa just couldn’t find any rhythm. Morgan Rogers had the chance to play in Tammy Abraham but overhit the pass. 

The first work for visiting keeper Berke Ozer came in the final minutes of the half. Amadou Onana rose to meet McGinn’s corner and Ozer did kept out the header, Nathan Ngoy getting a touch on the ball to deny Jadon Sancho a simple tap-in.

Villa just had no spark and the second half was arguably even more subdued until some brilliance from Martinez brought it to life.

Nabil Bentaleb’s free-kick was well struck but not only did the keeper hold it, diving low to his right, he was quickly back on his feet to fire a long kick downfield for Sancho to chase.

Up against Felix Correia, the winger cut inside before rolling the ball across the box for McGinn to fire in off the post.

Martinez, whose shoot-out heroics had seen Villa to Conference League victory over the same opponents two years ago, picked up a paper aeroplane and flinging it into the air on his return. He also made sure to aim a celebration in the direction of the visiting fans.

That meant Lille finally had to come out and play and Villa began to get chances.

Ollie Watkins, who had replaced Abraham off the bench, saw a shot deflected narrowly wide. Sancho then went even closer, drilling an effort off the near post after being found in space.

Lille had some nearly moments. Olivier Giroud saw a header hooked over by Douglas Luiz.

But they never seriously tested Martinez and when Watkins unselfishly set-up Bailey for a tap-in five minutes from time, the tie was well and truly over.

Villa (4-2-3-1): Martinez, Bogarde (Cash 74), Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen, Luiz, Onana, McGinn (Buendia 74), Rogers (Elliott 84), Sancho (Bailey 84), Abraham (Watkins 56) Subs not used: Mings, Konsa, Digne, Garcia, Wright (gk), Bizot (gk).

Lille (5-3-2): Ozer, Meunier (Santos 81), Ngoy, Alexsandro (Mandi 73), Mbemba, Perraud, Bouaddi (Edjouma 67), Bentaleb, Mukau (Fernandez 67), Giroud, Correia (Haraldsson 67) Subs not used: Verdonk, Diaoune, Beret, Boussadia, Bodart (gk), Lanssade (gk).