Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa beat Bologna 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, putting Unai Emery’s side on the brink of the semi-finals. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest secured a 1-1 draw away to Porto thanks to a bizarre own goal.
Freiburg also placed one foot in the last four after a commanding 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo.
Villa, managed by Unai Emery – a four-time winner of this competition – rode their luck in Italy. Bologna, appearing in their first European quarter-final in 27 years, started brightly. An Ezri Konsa own goal was ruled out by a VAR review for a marginal offside against Santiago Castro, before Lewis Ferguson struck the crossbar.
However, the Coppa Italia holders were undone by poor set-piece defending. Konsa headed into an unguarded net just before half-time after Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia failed to deal with a corner.
Watkins doubled the lead shortly after the restart, finishing coolly after Emi BuendÃa won possession deep inside Bologna territory. The hosts pushed for a reply: Federico Bernardeschi hit the post, and Jonathan Rowe was denied by a brilliant save from Emi MartÃnez.
Rowe finally found the net with a stunning 90th-minute finish to give Bologna hope. But Watkins struck again deep into stoppage time, left completely unmarked to tap in from another corner, sealing a 3-1 victory.
Forest hold Porto
Should Villa progress, they could face an all-English quarter-final against Nottingham Forest, who secured a valuable 1-1 draw in Portugal.
Porto took an early lead when William Gomes turned in at the far post. But the advantage lasted barely two minutes. Porto defender Martim Fernandes, attempting a pass back to goalkeeper Diogo Costa from just inside his own half, wildly overhit the ball and watched it sail into his own net.
Forest striker Igor Jesus had a goal ruled out in the second half, but Nuno EspÃrito Santo’s men were content with the draw, leaving the tie finely poised ahead of next week’s second leg at the City Ground.
Freiburg cruise to victory
Freiburg’s finest European campaign looks set to continue after they dismantled Celta Vigo 3-0. Vincenzo Grifo opened the scoring with a curling effort after just ten minutes. Niklas Beste doubled the lead following a fine team move, before Matthias Ginter headed home 12 minutes from time to secure a commanding first-leg advantage.
In Wednesday’s other quarter-final first leg, Braga and Real Betis played out a 1-1 draw.
