Emery’s Villa March Into the Last Eight

Two Second-Half Strikes

A Scare-Free Night at Villa Park

Aston Villa are into the Europa League quarter-finals after a controlled 2-0 win over Lille completed a 3-0 aggregate success. Unai Emery’s side, whose 100th win under the Spaniard was marked with a pre-match Holte End banner, put a run of poor domestic form behind them to book a last-eight meeting with Bologna.

Villa began brightly but had to be patient. Amadou Onana went closest in the first half, his header well handled by Berke Özer. Lille, a goal down from the first leg, seemed content to bide their time — but when they pushed forward after the break, they were punished on the counter.

Emiliano Martínez was central to the breakthrough. The goalkeeper saved Nabil Bentaleb’s low free-kick and immediately launched Jadon Sancho down the right, the winger finding McGinn — making his first Villa Park appearance since returning from injury — to open the scoring.

Bailey then wrapped it up late, converting a selfless Ollie Watkins assist for his first goal in over a year. Lille offered little beyond an early Ayyoub Bouaddi header and an Olivier Giroud effort ruled out for offside — a scare-free evening exactly as Emery would have wanted before facing West Ham.

The King of This Competition Marches On

Emery has now reached a Europa League quarter-final for an eighth time — no other manager has done so more than five — taking a fifth different club to this stage. Villa join the last eight and will meet Bologna over two legs on 9 and 16 April, with the final set for Istanbul on 20 May.

Villa remain on course for Champions League qualification through their Premier League position, but Europe offers the shot at silverware everyone at the club craves. Our AI engine will preview every remaining round.

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