Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa: Unai Emery’s side worried about goal as Nicholas Jackson scores first in Champions League win

Aston Villa put in a superb attacking performance to end performance worries and kick off their Champions League campaign with a thrilling 3-2 win over Club Brugge.

The Europa League winners failed to score in their first three Premier League matches, with just one shot on target, but their attack came through in Belgium as John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia and Nicholas Jackson struck to kick-start the season.

Villa struck 14 times in a brilliant first-half display that began with McGinn expertly deflecting a trademark shot into the bottom left corner after being cleared out of defence by Pau Torres.

Club Brugge’s expansive approach resulted in a thrilling draw and the hosts equalized when Hugo Vetlesen struck low into the corner, although Buendia restored Villa’s lead within three minutes with a close-range strike thanks to good work from Joao Gomez.

Villa constantly threatened on the counter-attack and their third goal came when Jackson ran in from behind to try to grab Torres’ long pass, beating goalkeeper Jan Sommer to score into an empty net for his first goal since joining the club for a record £65 million move.

The hosts pulled one goal back just after the hour mark thanks to Nicolo Tresoldi’s penalty awarded for handball on Aaron Wan-Bissaka after the referee was sent to the pitchside monitor, but despite heavy pressure Villa held on for victory.

Key moments from the Jan Breydel Stadium…

11: TARGET! McGinn scores Villa’s first goal of the season with a superb side-footed strike.

19: EQUALIZER! Vetlesen channels his inner McGinn as he flicks the ball into the bottom right corner.

22: VILLA IS LEADING AGAIN! The hosts were level after just three minutes when Buendia struck from close range after good work from Gomes.

43: JACKSON SCORES! The striker added to Villa’s superb attacking play by beating Sommer to slot the ball into an open goal.

61: TARGET! Play continues with Tresoldi conceding a penalty after Wan-Bissaka’s handball.

69: WOOD WORK! Emery makes three changes before Villa look to defend the corner and then Suzuki pushes Tresoldi’s header into the post for a set piece.

82: OFF THE LINE! Bogarde failed to seal Villa’s victory as his shot was deflected.

What does the result and next matches mean…