Aston Villa were on the receiving end of a 1-0 victory against Serie A side Bologna in their opening match of the 2025/26 Europa League on September 25, at Villa Park.
John McGinn found the back of the net for Aston Villa just 13 minutes into the clash, while Bologna failed to open their scoring, concluding the match in the Premier League side’s favor.
Despite their success against Bologna, Villa’s Morgan Rogers was jeered by the home crowd due to his struggles on the pitch and inconsistent performances so far in the campaign.
Rogers, who arrived at Villa Park from Middlesbrough in February 2024, put in some impressive displays last season, scoring 14 goals and providing 16 assists in 54 appearances across all competitions, while also winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Speaking after the match on Thursday, Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery spoke in support of the club’s fans when asked about the ironic cheers aimed at Rogers, mentioning that they have to ‘show their emotions.’
What did Aston Villa boss Unai Emery say?
During his post-match press conference, Emery was empathetic towards the fans and addressed their disappointment, claiming that the 23-year-old midfielder ‘needs’ such ‘experiences and grow up through it.’
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“The fans have to show their emotions. We have to accept it. They applaud us and sometimes not. We have to accept it. Morgan is young and needs time for experiences. I kept him on the field because I wanted his reaction, how he was accepting everything and he did it,” as per GOAL.
“He didn’t play well and wasn’t clinical in the attacking third to do the last assist, but I wanted to keep him because, firstly, he’s always doing his task. (He was) working for the team, but today he was not being clinical offensively. He needs to take experiences today, not playing every game well, the crowd not being happy with him and him getting his experiences and grow up through it.”
After bagging their first win of the season, Rogers will now be hoping to end his goal drought in Aston Villa’s next Premier League match against Fulham on September 28.
