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Aston Villa 4-0 Bologna
Ollie Watkins reached 100 goals for the Villans as Unai Emery’s side stormed into the Europa League semi-finals with a dominant display.
The striker celebrated his century of goals for Aston Villa in style, leading the team to a convincing victory over Bologna. Emery’s men delivered an offensive masterclass and a rock-solid defensive performance to secure their place among the top four teams in Europe’s second-tier club competition.
Watkins opened the scoring and reached 100 goals for the Birmingham club. Villa started strongly, intent on sealing the tie early, though Bologna initially held firm. The deadlock was broken by the lethal striker, who collected his 100th goal for the club. Emi Buendía created the chance, Morgan Rogers provided the assist, and Watkins finished to put Villa on the path to the semi-finals.
Shortly after, a penalty was awarded for a handball by Vitik, but Rogers saw his spot-kick saved by Ravaglia. However, Villa quickly doubled their lead when Buendía capitalized on a defensive error from the Italians. Just before halftime, Rogers redeemed himself by finishing a counter-attack initiated by Emiliano Martínez, sending Villa into the break with a three-goal cushion.
In the second half, Bologna started brightly but could not find the back of the net. The game gradually fizzled out at Villa Park, with the result effectively decided before the interval. Konsa added a fourth goal late on, replicating his strike from the first leg, to seal a comprehensive victory.
Aston Villa will now face Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals, after Forest narrowly defeated Porto.
