Aston Villa secured their first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Bologna in their Europa League opener, while Rangers suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Genk on Thursday, intensifying pressure on their manager Russell Martin. The matches marked the beginning of the Europa League campaign for both teams.Villa, despite being pre-tournament favorites and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals last season, had struggled with their form, failing to win any of their first five Premier League games. The victory came amid internal tensions, with manager Unai Emery recently criticizing his players and sporting director Monchi departing the club.John McGinn’s strike in the 13th minute proved decisive for Villa. The Scotland international found the bottom corner with a shot from the edge of the area.Ollie Watkins, who started on the bench due to his goalless run this season, missed a penalty in the second half with Łukasz Skorupski making an easy save.Bologna came close to equalizing when Santiago Castro’s header hit the crossbar, but Villa managed to hold on for the win, repeating their success against the Italian side from their previous Champions League encounter.“Important to get a win at home after not our strongest start to the season,” McGinn said. “We haven’t been good enough. We’ve had a lot of praise the past couple of seasons and we’re rightly being criticised at the minute.”Rangers’ situation worsened as they played with ten men after Mohamed Diomande’s red card before halftime for a dangerous challenge.Former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-Gyu missed a penalty for Genk in first-half stoppage time but redeemed himself by scoring the winning goal ten minutes into the second half.Martin, who joined Rangers in June, has now gone eight games without a win in both Scottish Premiership and European competitions.In other Europa League matches, Lille secured a 2-1 victory over Norwegian side Brann with Olivier Giroud scoring the winner.American player Tanner Tessmann helped Lyon defeat Utrecht 1-0.Stuttgart emerged victorious with a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo.Porto claimed a 1-0 away victory against RB Salzburg.
