Aston Villa skipper gave high praise for Jadon Sancho after the 2-0 win over Lille in the Europa League
Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho
Aston Villa's Jadon Sancho(Image: Ryan Browne/Shutterstock)
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John McGinn said Jadon Sancho was Aston Villa’s "man of the match by a mile" in their 2-0 Europa League win over Lille.
On loan from Manchester United this season, Sancho has struggled for form under Unai Emery but played a key role in the round of 16 second leg on Thursday.
He assisted McGinn’s goal just before the hour mark, breaking the deadlock, and then came close to scoring his own goal when he rattled the post.
Ollie Watkins later set up Leon Bailey to double Villa’s lead late in the game.
"Delighted. It was a slow first half, personally as well trying to get back up to speed,” McGinn said on TNT. “It wasn’t a pretty performance but the main thing is we are in the quarter-final.
“It was his best in a Villa shirt,” he added about Sancho. “He was man of the match tonight by a mile. The manager was giving me grief before the game to make sure I get in the box and he gave it to me.
"They defended very well in the first half but we did go a bit more direct in the second half, the manager tweaked it and it paid dividends.
"I never used to set goal targets but the manager sets targets on the forward players. I want to try to target 10 goals every season, I’ve not managed to do that yet but hopefully this season is the year. It is up to us forward players and wide players to take the pressure off Ollie [Watkins]."
Speaking about recovering from his knee injury, McGinn added: "It is difficult when the team is not doing well and you’re in the physio room. I got over it pretty quickly, I knew it could have been more serious and I just wanted to do my rehab properly. I’ve made mistakes before, trying to cut corners with rehab but I didn’t do that this time."
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