Champions League: Aston Villa beats Bologna 2-0 to top standings; Sporting routs Sturm Graz 2-0

Villa’s win put it provisionally top of the table in Europe’s elite club competition with nine points and is yet to concede. Bologna has one point after a draw and two losses.

Aston Villa’s Jhon Duran celebrates scoring his sides second goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Aston Villa and Bologna at the Villa Park in Birmingham, England. | Photo Credit: AP

Aston Villa overcame Bologna 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from John McGinn and Jhon Duran on Tuesday as the home side extended a perfect start to its first Champions League campaign in 41 years to three victories.

Villa’s win put it provisionally top of the table in Europe’s elite club competition with nine points and is yet to concede. Bologna has one point after a draw and two losses.

“What we are building here is amazing,” McGinn said. “Three games in, three wins and most important for us is no goals conceded. We don’t want to stop here. It puts us in a great position. Some players came back and now we look really strong.”

Unai Emery’s side had a flurry of chances before McGinn got on the scoresheet in the 55th minute, sending a free kick sailing over a sea of heads into the far corner.

After a VAR check for a possible handball, the goal stood.

Duran, whose late-game heroics led Villa past Bayern Munich three weeks ago, doubled the lead in the 64th when Morgan Rogers lifted a cross towards the box and the lunging striker held off defender Jhon Lucumi to flick the ball into the bottom corner.

Bologna, with one win this season in all competitions - a Serie A victory at Monza last month - threatened only for brief moments in the first half.

It had an early chance through Thijs Dallinga, who latched onto a through ball from Dan Ndoye, but Villa keeper Emi Martinez dived to push his attempt away from danger.

Villa mostly dominated the rest of the game, narrowly missing with several first-half chances.

McGinn almost scored in the first half with a long-range shot but Bologna keeper Lukasz Skorupski kept it out, while Morgan Rogers’ long shot just before the break sailed wide.

Villa next visits Club Brugge in the new 36-team league phase, with the top eight automatically making the last-16.

Sporting routs Sturm Graz

Nuno Santos and Viktor Gyokeres scored goals in either half as a dominant Sporting eased to a 2-0 away victory over Sturm Graz in their Champions League clash at the Woerthersee Stadium on Tuesday.

Sporting maintains its unbeaten start to the league phase, with seven points from its opening three games, but for the Austrians it was a third successive defeat with a trip to Borussia Dortmund next up on November 5.

Sporting CP’s Viktor Gyokeres celebrates scoring their second goal in the UEFA Champions League match against Sturm Graz. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

The visiting side opened the scoring midway through the first half when Geny Catamo embarked on an excellent run on the right wing. His low cross was missed by Gyokeres but turned in by Santos.

Home goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen will feel he should have kept the ball out with a poor attempt at a stop, but there was little he could do about the second goal for the visiting side.

The powerful Gyokeres was released down the left flank and he brushed aside his defender before showing great composure to place the ball past Scherpen.

Sporting has won 11 of its last 12 games in all competitions, with the only blemish a 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven. It hosts Manchester City in its next Champions League fixture, also on November 5.