It was a concerning evening for Unai Emery, king of the Europa League, despite a comeback victory in the league-stage finale. Ollie Watkins pulled up with a hamstring injury and hobbled off during a match with little riding on it.
With a place in the last 16 already confirmed and no threat of dropping into the play-off zone, there was no need for Watkins to be playing. Emery’s frustration will be compounded if scans show the England striker will be sidelined.
Emery, a four-timed winner of the Europa League, used the game to give Harvey Elliott a rare appearance and also played teenager George Hemmings, so it was always in his mind to keep his first-team players fresh for the club’s Premier League title challenge.
But his first-choice striker was given the nod to start and midway through the first half pulled up sharply after a sprint. He carried on for another 13 minutes before he was replaced, heading straight down the tunnel for treatment.
“He felt something, but not a lot,” Emery said.
“We will test him. Hopefully, we are thinking that is not a lot. I don’t know if he will be available for Sunday.”
Villa must hope that a needless injury in a virtual dead rubber will not damage their title hopes. They already have problems in midfield, with Boubacar Kamara out long term, John McGinn also sidelined and Youri Tielemans missing this defeat.
Regardless of Tammy Abraham coming in, Villa cannot afford their top-scorer for the past five seasons to be in the treatment room for the business end of the campaign. While the result meant little to Villa aside from where they finished in the top eight, they fought back from two goals down to win.
Karim Konaté and Moussa Yeo scored either side of the interval for the Austrian runners-up, who fielded a team with an average age of 21. They are also still on their winter break and faded in the second half, with Morgan Rogers and Tyrone Mings scoring before a late winner from Jamaldeen Jimoh-Aloba.
It was just Elliott’s sixth match for Villa since his loan move from Liverpool and there is seemingly little appetite to get him to the 10 appearances that will trigger a £35 million move. This match, with a place in the last 16 secured, was an obvious opportunity to get him on the pitch.
But where the England under-21 goes from here is difficult to see. Having played for Liverpool at the start of the season, under Fifa rules he cannot play for a third club on the summer-to-spring calendar of European football. Unless he moves to America, he seems stuck where he is until next season.
He could have marked his rare appearance with a first-minute goal and was only denied by a freak “scorpion kick” save from Alexander Schlager. The Austria goalkeeper was flying through the air with his head over heels as he looked to recover a fumble. Upside-down and with his back to the action, Schlager blocked Elliott’s effort with his calves and had no idea about it.
Salzburg needed a victory to have any chance of progressing in the tournament and it led to their urgent attacking and frantic pressing when Villa had the ball in their own territory. Emiliano Martínez pulled off an excellent double-save to keep out Soumaila Diabate’s blast and the follow-up from Konaté.
But Konaté found the net in the 33rd minute after Salzburg seized on hesitation from Mings with the ball at his feet in the penalty area. It was an ugly error from the England centre-back, who is easing his way back to action after a hamstring injury.
Edmund Baidoo pinched the ball off Mings and teed up Konaté to a few yards out, with the ball going in despite Victor Lindelöf’s efforts.
Prince William was in the stands at Villa Park but there was little for the club’s most famous fan to cheer about. It got worse when Watkins was substituted and headed straight to the dressing-room for treatment.
Kerim Alajbegović set up the second goal, weaving his way through the Villa defence and cutting back for Yeo, who defeated Martínez with a cheeky back-heel.
Rogers, who had come on for Watkins, ran through and finished to pull one back. Matty Cash also came off the bench and set up Mings’s headed equaliser. Jimoh-Aloba, 19, was introduced mid-way through the second half and coolly finished with three minutes left.