Aston Villa have taken a big step towards the Europa League semi-finals. Manager Unai Emery’s side had a tough time at Bologna, but still secured a 3-1 victory thanks to goals from Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins (2). The second leg takes place in Birmingham next Thursday. Meanwhile, Freiburg proved far too strong for Celta de Vigo in their quarter-final, winning 3-0.
Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa
Bologna nearly opened the scoring inside the first minute when Juan Miranda’s acrobatic effort was superbly saved by Emiliano Martínez after a fine Federico Bernardeschi cross.
Moments later, the home crowd thought they had the lead when Santiago Castro, Thijs Dallinga’s main rival, delivered a cross that deflected in off the unfortunate Ezri Konsa, only for the assistant to raise his flag for offside.
Moments later, Lewis Ferguson’s follow-up effort was ruled out by the narrowest of margins for offside, and the Scot then thundered a close-range shot against the crossbar. Villa hit back through John McGinn, whose drive flashed half a metre wide of Federico Ravaglia’s goal.
From a corner just before half-time, Villa finally struck. Ravaglia completely misjudged the timing of a high ball from Youri Tielemans and saw Konsa make the most of it: 0-1. A major blow for Bologna, who were certainly not the inferior side in the first half.
Moments after the restart, Watkins drove inside and, spurning the option to square for Morgan Rogers, finished coolly for 0-2.
Bologna kept pressing for an equaliser and came close on several occasions. Martínez was in fine form, producing a superb save from a long-range strike by Jonathan Rowe.
It seemed the game would end that way, until the 90th minute: Rowe dribbled in from the left and unleashed a superb strike into the far corner to make it 1-2.
Yet Villa had the last word. From a corner, Watkins collected the ball unmarked in the box and slotted it past Ravaglia to restore the two-goal cushion and leave Bologna in a precarious position: 1-3.
Freiburg - Celta Vigo 3-0
Freiburg captain Vincenzo Grifo, renowned for his striking ability, needed only nine minutes to open the scoring, curling a precise effort from just outside the box into the far corner: 1-0.
Celta, however, looked uncomfortable at the back and struggled to contain the hosts’ direct runs. Less than ten minutes later the lead doubled as former FC Emmen centre-back Jan-Niklas Beste finished from close range after a pass from Igor Matanovic.
Celta never recovered, and Freiburg made it 3-0 early in the second half when the experienced Matthias Ginter (32) headed in another excellent delivery from Beste. The result leaves Celta requiring a near-miracle in the return leg at Balaídos.