There was a heady atmosphere in Bologna before this match, with flags flying everywhere and the legend “weareone” plastered on the walls of the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara. Into this fervent atmosphere stepped Aston Villa, with warnings against complacency from their manager ringing in their ears. The Premier League side did not play well and were second best for much of the night, but they did stay supremely cool and turned the nervous energy of their hosts back on them to take a two-goal lead home to Birmingham.
Ezri Konsa opened the scoring after a gaffe by the goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia, before a second-half double from Ollie Watkins determined the outcome of the match and overwrote Jonathan Rowe’s late goal for the hosts. Bologna’s Englishman, a former Norwich City winger, was likely the man of the match, but Watkins’ ability to remain calm in pressured situations will surely prove the more decisive factor in this tie.
“We didn’t control the game in the first half like we planned”, Unai Emery admitted afterwards. “We didn’t create good chances, and two or three times they might have deserved more. But we focused a lot on set pieces for this match and we have an advantage there.”
Bologna were dominant in possession in the opening stages with their wingers the most dangerous players on the pitch, and Federico Bernardeschi’s cross from the right was nearly turned in spectacularly by Juan Miranda in the 21st minute, but his scissor kick was scrambled behind.
It was on the left that Bologna got continual joy, however, with Rowe besting his duels with Matty Cash. In the 26th minute a superb take on his chest from a direct pass sent Rowe clear and he teed up Santiago Castro, whose shot bobbled up off Konsa and over the line despite Cash’s late clearance. The stadium erupted, but the joy leaked away as it transpired that the video assistant referee had got involved, ruling out the goal owing to Castro’s toe being offside.
A sense of injustice grew in the ground alongside a growing excitement, but as the first half came to a close the latter ebbed away and the former intensified as Villa took an undeserved lead. Without Watkins scrapping to hold the ball and keep possession on the halfway line nothing would have come to pass, but his hard work led to a corner and then another. Youri Tielemans’ second delivery was good but should have been cleared by Ravaglia. Instead, and with no one nearby, he came and entirely missed the ball, with Konsa able to stoop and score. Apparently self-conscious about his good fortune, he barely celebrated.
Freiburg took a significant step towards the Europa League semi-finals by beating Celta Vigo 3-0 at home. Vincenzo Grifo (pictured) put the hosts in front after 10 minutes, curling his shot into the far corner. Jan-Niklas Beste doubled their advantage in the 32nd minute, tapping home a cross from close range.
Mathias Ginter's header 12 minutes from time means Celta have a mountain to climb to reach the semi-finals. The winners of this tie will face either Real Betis or Braga, who played out a 1-1 first-leg draw in Portugal on Wednesday.
In the Conference League, Shakhtar Donetsk took a big step towards a semi-final with Crystal Palace by beating AZ Alkmaar 3-0. Playing their home leg in Krakow, Poland, Shakhtar broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute through Pedrinho, with Alisson then striking twice in quick succession late in the game.
Mainz sank Gary O'Neil's Strasbourg side with a 2-0 win in Germany. Kaishu Sano's deflected opener and Stefan Posch's volley completed the scoring in the first 20 minutes. Earlier, Rayo Vallecano eased to a 3-0 home win over AEK Athens, with Ilias Akhomach breaking the deadlock in the second minute. AFP
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Things went from bad to worse for the hosts almost immediately after the restart. In possession on the edge of his box, Miranda attempted a switch of play, but his pass was too fierce for Torbjørn Heggem and Emí Buendía smuggled the ball away from him. The Argentinian teed up Watkins, who was free in the box, and the England man wasn’t about to pass up such an opportunity and, advancing on goal, he slipped a cool finish between Ravaglia’s legs.
“Watkins is a fighter,” Emery said. “Sometimes he is playing brilliant and sometimes not, and when he doesn’t score we lack something, but he is always working hard for the team. He is always being consistent in his work.”
Rowe joined Bologna at the start of this season for £19.5m after a fractious move to Marseille had followed a combustible departure from Carrow Road. He has spoken about the lengths to which he has had to adapt his game for the Italian style, and that of the coach, Vincenzo Italiano, but he was in his element here. As well as the disallowed goal he created two further big chances in the game – one a trivela cross to Lewis Ferguson that the skipper then cannoned off the underside of the Villa bar, the second a tee-up for Bernadeschi which the Italian skewed into the side netting.
In the end, Rowe had to do it himself, and he deservedly found the net in the 90th minute, cutting in from the left to curl a right-footed effort beyond the diving Emi Martínez and inside the far post.
The noise was boiling over in the ground after that and the blood was up again, but unfortunately for the hosts the game was not done. Two minutes later Villa scrambled a corner. Tielemans stepped up again with the delivery, but not a single Bologna defender was able to get close to it, and it dropped right at Watkins’ feet. He took a touch to steady, then finished promptly before roaring off towards the away support.
Italiano, whose side are five points above the Serie A relegation zone, said: “I feel very bad for our fans. We have a very slim chance [to qualify] but we have to honour this competition.”
