Aston Villa see off Lille as McGinn and Bailey seal Europa League last-eight spot | OneFootball

Aston Villa claimed a 2-0 victory over Lille in the second leg of their UEFA Europa League round of 16 tie at Villa Park on Thursday, winning 3-0 on aggregate.

Villa bossed possession in the opening quarter, but the visitors were presented with the game’s first chance when Ayyoub Bouaddi met Ribeiro’s cross, but he headed wide.

In the 42nd minute, Amadou Onana almost opened the scoring after he got onto John McGinn’s corner, but his header was kept out by Berke Ozer.

Shortly after the restart, Emiliano Martinez denied Bentaleb from a free kick and turned defence into attack.

From the free kick, the Argentine keeper initiated a swift Villa attack, finding Jadon Sancho on the break, who laid it across for McGinn to finish into the bottom corner.

On the hour mark, Oliver Giroud thought he had restored parity for the visitors after he finished off Bouaddi’s lofted pass, but he was denied by the offside flag.

Watkins was close to doubling the Villans’ advantage, but he dragged his effort from the edge of the box just wide at the other end.

Moments later, Sancho saw his effort from the right side of the area come off the post as Villa searched for a second goal.

However, in the 85th minute, Leon Bailey doubled the host’s lead after he tapped home a squared pass from Watkins to seal the victory.

Aston Villa will face either Bologna or Roma in the quarterfinal of the Europa League.