Jackson off the mark as Villa sinks Club Brugge
Aston Villa put iuts Premier League struggles behind it, opening its Champions League campaign with an absorbing 3-2 victory over Club Brugge.
Having failed to score in three domestic outings this season, Unai Emery's side had no such trouble in Belgium as John McGinn, Emiliano Buendia and Nicolas Jackson hit the net, with the latter scoring his first goal for the club.
Buendia curled wide of the right post from Villa's first sight of goal, but they struck in the 11th minute as Pau Torres carried the ball all the way to the edge of the Brugge box before offloading for McGinn, who swept a lovely, first-time strike into the bottom-left corner.
George Hemmings then passed up two chances to make it 2-0, first forcing a save from Yann Sommer before awkwardly prodding past the far post, before Hugo Vetlesen equalised for the hosts in the 19th minute, slotting beyond Zion Suzuki from Jan Virgili's left-sided centre.
Less than three minutes after conceding that goal, Villa went back in front as Buendia ghosted in and clipped Joao Gomes' cutback past Sommer from close range.
Jackson was involved in the build-up to that goal with a clever backheel, and the former Chelsea man got himself on the scoresheet two minutes before half-time, helped by some questionable goalkeeping from Sommer.
The former Switzerland international raced off his line to meet Torres's long ball over the top, but Jackson took the ball off his toe before coolly rolling into an empty net.
Brugge – which had gone close through Carlos Forbs at 2-1 – was back in the contest just after the hour, with Nicolo Tresoldi keeping his cool from the spot after Aaron Wan-Bissaka was adjudged to have handled Joaquin Seys' cross.
That set the stage for the host side to put Villa under real pressure, as Suzuki kept out Vetlesen's strike through a crowded area, then got a huge slice of fortune when Tresoldi's glancing header bounced off the post and into his arms.
Villa continued to threaten on the counter-attack, and Brugge's last real opportunity to snatch a point was a weak header from Tresoldi, which Suzuki gathered with ease.
