Following this year's reshaping of the UEFA Europa League landscape, Aston Villa has emerged as a dark horse in the competition. In the Premier League, Villa beat Bologna 2-0 at home late on Wednesday night (23) to make it three wins in a row, sweeping away the gloom of previous meetings with the giants and leaping to the top of the table.
The game was a tightly contested affair, but Villa's winning position was hard to shake. John McGuinness gave his side the opening lead with a free-kick in midfield, and after 55 minutes, Morgan Rogers' pinpoint cross from the left was met by an unstoppable shot from 20-year-old Colombian international Zohan Duran to make it 2-0, and the youngster has been incredibly effective for Villa so far this season, scoring seven goals in 12 matches.
According to Spanish newspaper As, top clubs such as Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea are all interested in acquiring Zohan Duran, while Villa's side has made a transfer bid of more than 75 million pounds (about 750 million Hong Kong dollars) for the man.
After 41 years, Aston Villa returned to the Europa League and showed their strength with extraordinary performance. In the first two rounds of the match, Villa won 3-0 and 1-0 respectively, and in the third round, they even gave Bologna "two eggs" with a wonderful shot. Three wins and no goals conceded proved Villa's outstanding performance.
