Aston Villa supporters made their feelings clear on Mason Greenwood as the former Manchester United forward made a difficult return to English football. It was his first appearance on English soil since rape charges against him were dropped, and the 25-year-old was named in the starting line-up for Fenerbahce during their Champions League clash at Villa Park.
Jeers from the warm-up to the final whistle
The hostility began before kick-off when the Fenerbahce team was read out by the stadium announcer. Greenwood's name was met with loud jeers from the home fans, and the reaction continued into the match itself as every touch he made drew a chorus of boos.
Despite the reception, Greenwood represented the visitors' most potent attacking threat, having scored six goals so far this season. However, it was Aston Villa's attackers who dominated the night, with the Premier League side scoring six without reply.
Villa cruise to emphatic victory
Johan Manzambi, Nicolas Jackson, Ross Barkley and Tammy Abraham were all on the scoresheet for a rampant Villa side that maintained their perfect record in the competition.
Speaking after the match, Villa boss Unai Emery urged his side to keep competing in Europe's most prestigious competition. He said: "We are delighted with the first win at home. Then how we played in the first half I was not so happy. They didn't score but Zion [Suzuki] played fantastic, they hit the crossbar."
Emery calls for continued progress
Emery added: "We wanted to control the match better. In the second half we were planning to correct what we didn't do well in the first half, and I think we did it. Then we tried to stop them and we scored three more."
He continued: "I don't think they deserved 6-0 but for us, it's important for us to achieve the first win at home and how we could manage the different players as well and the progression in how we stepped forward."
Emery concluded: "I was confident before today but there is still a lot of work to do. Our structure is strong, but we need more time. We are progressively getting better, progressively getting the balance that we need and today we took one very big step forwards. And those three points for us in the table is important and we are being ambitious. We want to be protagonists in the Champions League."
