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Ollie Watkins has scored four goals in his last five games in all competitions for Aston Villa At a glance Bologna have goal ruled out by VAR before they hit crossbar Aston Villa take lead through Ezri Konsa's back-post header before half-time Ollie Watkins doubles advantage early in second half Jonathan Rowe scores for Bologna but Watkins restores two-goal lead PLAYER RATER Aston Villa will take a 3-1 advantage into the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Bologna following a hard-fought victory in Italy. After surviving a string of Bologna attacks, Villa led through a header from Ezri Konsa, which came against the run of play in the dying seconds of the first half, before Ollie Watkins doubled their advantage six minutes into the second. Bologna's English attacker Jonathan Rowe struck with a brilliant curling effort past Emiliano Martinez in the 90th minute before Watkins scored from a corner in injury time to restore their two-goal advantage before the return fixture. But Unai Emery's side were handed two huge reprieves in the first half as they struggled to find a foothold at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. Rowe was a lively presence on the left wing for the home side and fed Santiago Castro, who saw his effort take a deflection off Konsa on its way into the goal - despite an attempt from Matty Cash to clear it off the line. The Serie A side's 28th-minute opener, however, did not stand, disallowed for a tight offside on Castro after a video assistant referee (VAR) review. Two minute's later, Scotland's Lewis Ferguson's shot hit the crossbar after Rowe's cross. But the Premier League side struck in the 44th minute from a rare corner kick as defender Konsa headed in at the far post with Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia failing to collect Youri Tielemans' delivery after coming off the line. Watkins then pounced on a mistake by Torbjorn Heggem and finished through the legs of Ravaglia to pull his side further ahead in the 51st minute. Rowe reduced the deficit in the closing stages to give Bologna hope, which was dashed immediately by Watkins' second in the 95th minute as the 1982 European champions took a big step towards a place in the semi-finals. 'Hungry' Watkins is man on mission but will Tuchel take notice? Ezri Konsa's first-half opener for Aston Villa was only his second in a major European competition Standing tall at Bologna's home ground is La Torre di Maratona - the Tower of Marathon - which was built to symbolise the resilience of athletes. And Villa were forced to embody that spirit as they produced a performance full of grit, discipline and resolve to gain the advantage. It had been 18 days since Villa last played competitive football, a 2-0 win against West Ham on 22 March before the Premier League took a break for international football. And it showed as Martinez had to save his side's blushes by denying an acrobatic effort from left-back Juan Miranda before Castro and Scotland attacking midfielder Ferguson also went close for the Italians. But appearing in their third European quarter-final in as many seasons, Emery's men overcame a lethargic start to stamp their authority on the tie as a clinical display helped them go 2-0 up. Coppa Italia holders Bologna threatened to mount a comeback with Bernardeschi brushing the outside of the post in the 78th minute before Rowe claimed a deserved goal. But Watkins struck a devastating blow on the Italians late on, meaning Vincenzo Italiano's side will feel hard done by after generating 19 shots - compared to Villa's eight - and striking the woodwork twice. It was Villa's eighth consecutive victory in the competition under four-time Europa League winner Emery and moves them another step closer to ending a 30-year trophy drought, which would also mean a return to the Champions League next season. They will now feel confident of finishing the job in the return leg in Birmingham, where they have defeated the Rossoblu twice already over the past 18 months - a 2-0 in last season's Champions League and then 1-0 earlier this campaign. Aston Villa will next be in Premier League action on Sunday (14: 00 BST) when they travel to Nottingham Forest before the Europa League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park on Thursday, 16 April (20: 00). Bologna, meanwhile, will face a struggling Lecce side in Serie A on Sunday (17: 00) before their trip to England. After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users. Comments can not be loaded To load Comments you need to enable Java Script in your browser Manager: Vincenzo Italiano Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Unai Emery Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Manager: Vincenzo Italiano Formation: 4 - 3 - 3 Manager: Unai Emery Formation: 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 UEFA Europa League All competitions All competitions All competitions Bologna have lost both of their European meetings with Aston Villa, losing at Villa Park both times – 2-0 in last season’s UEFA Champions League and 1-0 earlier this season in the UEFA Europa League. Aston Villa have kept a clean sheet in each of their last four major European matches against Italian teams (W3 D1). The last player to score for an Italian team against Villa was Dennis Bergkamp in September 1994 for Internazionale in the UEFA Cup. This is Bologna’s fifth major European quarter-final – they were knocked out by Leeds in the 1966-67 Fairs Cup and Sporting CP in the 1990-91 UEFA Cup, while they eliminated FK Vojvodina in the 1967-68 Fairs Cup and Lyon in the 1998-99 UEFA Cup. Aston Villa have reached a European quarter-final for a third consecutive season, knocking out Lille in 2023-24 in the Conference League and losing 5-4 on aggregate to PSG in last season’s UEFA Champions League. In the UEFA Cup/Europa League, it’s their first since 1997-98 against Atlético de Madrid (2-2 on aggregate, lost on away goals). Bologna have only lost one of their last 15 major European matches (W8 D6), losing to Aston Villa in September. They’re unbeaten in 11, with Fiorentina the last Italian side to have a longer unbeaten run in Europe (12 in 2023-24). Aston Villa have won their last seven UEFA Europa League matches. There’s only been five previous occasions an English club have won eight major European games in a row, and all have been since the start of the 2022-23 season – West Ham (8 in 2022-23), Man City (10, May 2023 to March 2024), Liverpool (8, April 2024 to January 2025), Chelsea (9 in 2024-25) and Arsenal (8 in 2025-26). Bologna’s Jonathan Rowe has been involved in five goals in his last six UEFA Europa League appearances (3 goals, 2 assists). It’s only the second time an Englishman has been involved in 5+ goals for a non-English club in a Europa League season, along with James Tavernier for Rangers in 2021-22 (7 goals, 2 assists). John Mc Ginn has scored nine goals in major European competition for Aston Villa, the joint most of any player for the club along with Peter Withe. 41 different Scotsmen have scored 10+ European goals but the last Scottish player to reach 10 goals in Europe was Ally Mc Coist back in November 1990. Foul by Torbjørn Heggem (Bologna). Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Substitution, Bologna. Jens Odgaard replaces Santiago Castro. Foul by Santiago Castro (Bologna). Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Corner, Bologna. Conceded by Emiliano Martínez. Attempt saved. Jonathan Rowe (Bologna) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top right corner by Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa). Assisted by Riccardo Orsolini. Substitution, Aston Villa. Lamare Bogarde replaces Amadou Onana. Offside, Bologna. Riccardo Orsolini is caught offside. Attempt blocked. Federico Bernardeschi (Bologna) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Santiago Castro. Attempt blocked. Santiago Castro (Bologna) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Federico Bernardeschi with a headed pass. Federico Bernardeschi (Bologna) hits the left post with a left footed shot from the left side of the box. Attempt saved. Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner by Federico Ravaglia (Bologna). Assisted by Emiliano Buendía. Foul by Torbjørn Heggem (Bologna). Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Foul by Jhon Lucumí (Bologna). Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the defensive half. Attempt blocked. Santiago Castro (Bologna) right footed shot from long range on the right is blocked. Foul by Remo Freuler (Bologna). John Mc Ginn (Aston Villa) wins a free kick in the attacking half. Copyright © 2026 BBC. 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