OPINION
What a first season it has been in England, and at Aston Villa, for John McGinn. The midfielder has established himself as a favourite of the Holte End for his industry, class and vision in the central acres, and his ability on the ball was pivotal to the home side breaking the deadlock in the first half of Villa’s Championship clash against Middlesbrough on Saturday. Receiving the ball in a wide right position after 28 minutes, the Scotland international delivered a peach of a crossfield pass to the onrushing winger Anwar El Ghazi, who took a touch and then finished with immense composure. Villa fans loved the finish and loved a ninth league assist of the campaign for McGinn. For good measure, he then added his fifth league goal of the season soon afterwards to put the hosts 2-0 up at the break. For a central midfielder who does his fair share of defensive work, that is an extremely impressive contribution, and demonstrates what a bargain he was after the club signed him for less than £3million last summer.
This Is Futbol has rounded up some of the best tweets below:
That pass from McGinn…..wow
— Tim Wise (@TWiseNC) March 16, 2019
God bless John McGinn. #avfc https://t.co/dVGXotiBf2
— Rob Jones (@UpTheAstonVilla) March 16, 2019
Pulis will be fuming. Boro make an error, McGinn is calmness personified and bypasses their entire defence with a peach of a slide ball to Anwar – who is calm and calculated and finished like an assassin. Loving this new Villa.
— Son Lyme (@Son_Lyme) March 16, 2019
https://twitter.com/KingElmooo/status/1106940867858890752
https://twitter.com/natashadearn/status/1106941590415835137
https://twitter.com/SeanYarwood/status/1106940913450926081
That assist from McGinn was a thing of beauty
— Eleanor Cox (@Dr_coxy) March 16, 2019
We've got McGinn super John McGinn – get in there #utv
— susie barnsby (@susiebarn) March 16, 2019
That’s a lovely goal from Villa. Beautiful ball from McGinn and lovely touch and finish from Anwar. More of that please lads. #AVFC
— Adz (@AdzW90) March 16, 2019