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What a night in Belgium for Aston Villa in the Champions League. A good performance, but more importantly, a much needed win, with shots on target. Villa fans were understandably nervous ahead of the match, and like always, we were all waiting in anticipation to see who Emery picked in his starting line-up at the Jan Breydel Stadium. To say some Villa supporters were unimpressed with the team selection would be an understatement. There was plenty of negativity when the line-up was announced. In fact, I didn’t see many comments offering much encouragement to some of the players selected. It was quite disappointing to see. Hemming, who seemed to receive a lot of criticism before a ball had even been kicked, was one of Villa’s best players on the night. Had he taken one of the two excellent chances that came his way, it would have capped off a fantastic evening for the youngster. Jackson also got himself on the scoresheet and barely put a foot wrong all night. Every time the ball was played into him, he rarely lost possession. Time and again he laid the ball off to teammates and helped get Villa moving forward. It was a very mature performance. Super John McGinn opened the scoring with a sublime finish. He simply guided the ball beyond the goalkeeper with ease. It was a beautiful goal and exactly what Villa needed. Gomes also responded brilliantly after his red card against Brighton a few weeks ago. He was full of energy, covered plenty of ground and played his part in an impressive midfield display. At the end of the night, Emery had been vindicated. He picked his starting eleven. The criticism followed. Then Villa went out and won the match. By the final whistle, many of the same players who had been questioned beforehand were receiving praise. Funny how football works sometimes. UTV