Friday’s briefing: John McGinn gives Villa victory and more woe for Rangers

Aston Villa secured a first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Bologna in their Europa League opener at Villa Park.

Genk beat 10-man Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox to put Russell Martin back under the spotlight.

Arsenal defender William Saliba is understood to have agreed a contract extension, while Liverpool teenager Rio Ngumoha signed his first professional contract.

John McGinn’s early strike earned Aston Villa a first win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Bologna in their Europa League opener at Villa Park.

Unai Emery is looking to win this competition for a fifth time and the favourites to lift the trophy got their campaign up and running in a hard-fought contest.

Villa had only scored twice in their opening six games of the season, both away from home, but they finally grabbed a goal on their own patch courtesy of McGinn’s pinpoint strike.

Ollie Watkins came off the bench and saw a penalty saved in the second half as the wait for his first goal of the campaign went on, while Marco Bizot made important saves to deliver a much-needed win.

Former Celtic striker Oh Hyeon-gyu scored after missing an earlier penalty as Genk beat 10-man Rangers 1-0 at Ibrox to put Russell Martin back under the spotlight.

The Belgian visitors struck the woodwork in the first half before Gers midfielder Mohamed Diomande was shown a straight red card in the 41st minute.

In added time Gers keeper Jack Butland saved a penalty from Oh, who eventually broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with a close-range finish.

The 2-0 win over Hibernian at the weekend gave under-fire Martin some much-needed respite – but it was a case of one step forward, two back as the disgruntled home fans again turned on him at the final whistle.

Arsenal defender