Aston Villa 3-2 Wigan Athletic: 3 takeaways from home opener

Birkir Bjarnason scored a last-minute winner at Villa Park to ensure all three points over Wigan Athletic. Here are three key takeaways from an interesting affair full of ups and downs.

It took until the third minute of added time, but Aston Villa found the winner over Wigan Athletic. Birkir Bjarnason’s sliding tap-in ensured the claret and blue stay perfect on the season through two matches. Up next, a Carabao Cup fixture at Yeovil Town midweek.

Until then, let’s dissect the Villa performance that saw six changes from the side that beat Hull City 3-1. There were club debuts for Ørjan Nyland in net and John McGinn in midfield, while Axel Tuanzebe made his season debut at right back.

1. John McGinn, an all-time memorable #AVFC debut.

John McGinn wasted no time stamping his signature on the Villa Park pitch. On the 13th-minute, the Scotland international placed a perfectly-weighted free kick onto James Chester’s head.

1-0, Aston Villa.

But that wasn’t the only excellent dead ball, either. McGinn threatened Wigan several times with right flag corner kicks and other set pieces. He wasn’t too involved in possession with only 42 touches, far less than fellow midfielders, Grealish with 72 and Bjarnason on 54, but the times that he did control the ball, he looked impressive. Moreover, his pressing was fantastic. In total, McGinn registered four key passes, four shots with one on-target, and 80% passing accuracy.

2. The Mile Jedinak CB experiment failed again.

Mile Jedinak really, really struggled. There’s no hiding it.

Poor in possession, poor defending, poor communication, and an error that directly led to Wigan’s opening goal. It’s early, of course, but Jedinak is showcasing the same mistakes that made him a less-than-ideal option during parts of last season too.

I still buy into Jedi as a centre-back; mainly because his positive traits profile so well at the position. But right now, he’s a clear fourth option, behind James Chester, Tommy Elphick and Axel Tuanzebe. The latter two need to feature (over Jedi) until proven otherwise.

Steve Bruce needs to sort out the left-sided central defender spot because all four of the above struggle to varying degrees on their left foot.

3. Three points are three points, and Wigan are a good side.

Perhaps we’re too cynical after a Villa victory, but there was a lot to look back on and think, “Eh, I don’t really think that’s sustainable” or, “I don’t think every player is in their most-comfortable position.”

In the end, Aston Villa have six points after two league matches. They beat a decent-to-good Wigan side and fought back doing so.

Yeovil on Tuesday awaits.