Watkins double helps Villa earn two-goal advantage at Bologna | OneFootball

Aston Villa put themselves in an excellent position to reach the semi-finals after earning a two-goal advantage in the first leg quarter-final leg against Bologna.

The English side started slowly in Italy with Emiliano Martínez spending much of the early parts of the game with the ball under his feet and not doing too much with it.

Bologna started to get a hold of the game though and did have the ball in the net with just over 25 minutes gone after good work from Jonathan Rowe. Santiago Castro then picked up the ball and put in a ball that was deflected into the net but the Argentinian was offside when he picked it up.

Villa were very much second best but went into half-time with the lead. Youri Tielemans' corner from the left was misjudged by goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia allowing Ezri Konsa to head home.

Unai Emery's side improved in the second period and doubled their lead seven minutes after the restart. Ollie Watkins showed great industry as he robbed the ball while Bologna played out from the back before charging towards goal and finishing past Ravaglia.

Of all the Bologna players it was former Norwich City man Rowe who looked most likely to get his team back in the tie. The English forward was all over the pitch and it was his run that resulted in Federico Bernardeschi hitting the woodwork.

Then shortly after that it was Rowe again popping up and forcing Martínez in a fine stop to keep the score 2-0 late on.

Rowe eventually got the moment he deserved in the 90th minute when he picked up the ball on the left still with a lot to do before heading towards goal and beating Martínez with a superb curling effort.

However, Villa restored their two-goal lead in stoppage time. Once again it was Watkins and once again it was a set-piece that Bologna didn't deal with, allowing the ball to drop to the striker about a yard away from goal – no surprise happened next.

Incidents: The story of the match

1':

The match begins

44':

GOAL Aston Villa: Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) scores!

Ezri Konsa scores goal number 1 in the competition (8 matches)

Aston Villa takes the lead 1-0 as Ezri Konsa scores with a header from the right side of the six-yard box following a corner.

51':

GOAL Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) scores!

Ollie Watkins scores goal number 2 in the competition (11 matches)

Aston Villa leads 2-0 with Ollie Watkins scoring from the left side of the box with his right foot.Bologna 1, Aston Villa 2. Jonathan Rowe scores for Bologna with a right-footed shot from the left side of the box into the right corner, assisted by Jhon Lucumí.

90':

GOAL Bologna: Jonathan Rowe (Bologna) scores!

Jonathan Rowe scores goal number 4 in the competition (11 matches)

90 +4':

GOAL Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) scores!

Ollie Watkins scores goal number 3 in the competition (11 matches)

998':

The referee whistles for the end of the match