Bologna 1-3 Aston Villa: Rowe 90; Konsa 44, Watkins 51, 90+3
Aston Villa took a major step toward the Europa League semi-finals with a 3-1 first-leg victory over Bologna, after Ezri Konsa opened the scoring and then Ollie Watkins struck twice in the second half to down the hosts in Italy.
Villa weathered long spells of pressure at the Renato Dall’Ara before capitalising on defensive mistakes to seize control of the tie. Bologna started brightly and looked the side much more likely to score early on. Jonathan Rowe dominated the game, causing problems on the left flank and creating the hosts’ best moments.
Rowe thought he had produced the pass for the opening goal when he set up Santiago Castro, but the effort was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
The pressure continued, and Bologna came close again when captain Lewis Ferguson crashed a volley against the crossbar following another dangerous delivery from Rowe. But despite all of their dominance, the Italian side failed to find the net.
Villa, by contrast, were clinical when their opportunity arrived just before half-time. A series of corners led to Youri Tielemans delivering into the box, where goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia misjudged his attempt to claim the ball. Konsa was left with a simple header into an empty net to give the visitors an unlikely lead.
The setback carried into the second half for Bologna. A misplaced pass at the back allowed Villa to pounce, with Emiliano Buendia setting up Watkins, who calmly finished through Ravaglia’s legs to double the advantage.
Villa grew into the game after that and managed proceedings effectively, though Bologna continued to push. Emiliano Martinez was called into action to preserve the lead, while Federico Bernardeschi and others went close as the hosts searched for a breakthrough.
Their moment arrived late on when Rowe finally got his goal, cutting inside and curling a fine effort past Martinez to give Bologna hope heading into stoppage time.
But their jubilation was short-lived. Villa responded immediately from a corner, and Watkins was on hand to turn home his second of the night, restoring the two-goal cushion and putting the Premier League side firmly in control of the tie ahead of next week’s second leg.
