John McGinn’s header in stoppage time ended Zrinjski Mostar’s resistance and earned Aston Villa their first win in the Europa Conference League.
It looked set to be another disappointing night for Villa in the Conference League, having lost 3-2 at Legia Warsaw in their opening game.
However, captain McGinn met Matty Cash’s cross in the fourth added minute to deliver the win.
The win was no less than Villa deserved and is their first at home in the group stage of a European competition since they beat Ajax 2-1 in the Uefa Cup in October 2008.
Villa had plenty of the ball in the first half but were ponderous in possession and lacked any real fluidity, finding it difficult to break down a well-organised Zrinjski defensive unit.
Sitting deep in a 5-4-1 formation, the visitors from Bosnia-Herzegovina were happy to soak up pressure with the intention to hit on the counter-attack.
That approach almost paid dividends when Mario Ticinovic broke and delivered a low cross for Nemanja Bilbija; however, the striker fired straight at Emiliano Martinez.
Nicolo Zaniolo had the best first-half chance for the hosts when he acrobatically met Lucas Digne’s deflected cross, but his bicycle kick was saved by goalkeeper Marko Maric.
Villa looked much more dynamic after the break, thanks largely to the introduction of Ollie Watkins, Douglas Luiz and Cash and a change in shape – opting to play with three central defenders and deploying wing-backs to try to claim real estate further up the field.
The chances started to flow for Villa, with Diego Carlos, Ezri Konsa and Youri Tielemans testing Maric.
Just as the game seemed to be heading for a goalless draw, McGinn nodded home to get his side on the board in the competition.
All four sides in Group E have three points and a goal difference of zero after their opening two games.
