UEFA Europa League

FT Thursday, March 12, 2026
Aston Villa WLDLL 1
–
Lille LWWWD 0
1st2ndT
AVL011
LILL000
1st Leg · Decathlon Arena - Stade Pierre-Mauroy · 40,187 att. · Paramount+

Match Report

Getty Images

Aston Villa edge Lille to take Europa League first-leg lead

Ollie Watkins ended his goal drought as Aston Villa battled to a 1-0 away win at Lille in the first leg of their Europa League last 16 tie.

Full story at ESPN →

Team Stats

12
Fouls
11
2
Yellow Cards
0
0
Red Cards
0
1
Offsides
5
2
Corner Kicks
3
3
Saves
0
51.2
Possession
48.8
9
SHOTS
7
1
ON GOAL
3
0.1
On Target %
0.4
0
Penalty Goals
0
0
Penalty Kicks Taken
0
405
Accurate Passes
381
470
Passes
442
0.9
Pass Completion %
0.9
2
Accurate Crosses
2
11
Crosses
18
0.2
Cross %
0.1
51
Long Balls
37
25
Accurate Long Balls
14
0.5
Long Balls %
0.4
3
Blocked Shots
2
9
Effective Tackles
7
15
Tackles
16
0.6
Tackle %
0.4
10
Interceptions
11
22
Effective Clearances
20
22
Clearances
20

Head to Head

Series tied 1-1

Lineups

LILL · 4-2-3-1

  1. 1Berke ÖzerG
  2. 23Aïssa MandiCD-L
  3. 18Chancel MbembaCD-R
  4. 15Romain PerraudLB
  5. 22Tiago SantosRB
  6. 10Hákon HaraldssonAM
  7. 6Nabil BentalebLM
  8. 21Benjamin AndréRM
  9. 9Olivier GiroudF
  10. 28Gaetan PerrinAM-L
  11. 17Ngal'ayel MukauAM-R

AVL · 4-2-3-1

  1. 23Emiliano MartínezG
  2. 14Pau TorresCD-L
  3. 4Ezri KonsaCD-R
  4. 12Lucas DigneLB
  5. 26Lamare BogardeRB
  6. 27Morgan RogersAM
  7. 24Amadou OnanaLM
  8. 21Douglas LuizRM
  9. 11Ollie WatkinsF
  10. 10Emiliano BuendíaAM-L
  11. 19Jadon SanchoAM-R

Timeline

  1. 45' Substitution, Lille. Ayyoub Bouaddi replaces Benjamin André because of an injury.
  2. 52' Substitution, Lille. Matias Fernandez-Pardo replaces Gaëtan Perrin because of an injury.
  3. 61' Goal! Lille 0, Aston Villa 1. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) header from the centre of the box to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía with a headed pass.
  4. 66' Substitution, Lille. Thomas Meunier replaces Tiago Santos.
  5. 66' Substitution, Lille. Félix Correia replaces Ngal'ayel Mukau.
  6. 77' Substitution, Aston Villa. Tammy Abraham replaces Ollie Watkins.
  7. 77' Substitution, Aston Villa. John McGinn replaces Douglas Luiz.
  8. 83' Substitution, Aston Villa. Leon Bailey replaces Jadon Sancho.
  9. 83' Substitution, Lille. Soriba Diaoune replaces Hákon Haraldsson.
  10. 83' Substitution, Aston Villa. Ian Maatsen replaces Emiliano Buendía.
  11. 88' Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card.
  12. 90' Substitution, Aston Villa. Harvey Elliott replaces Morgan Rogers.
  13. 90'+2' Lucas Digne (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.

UEFA Europa League News

All news
News ESPN News Services AC Milan condemn racist abuse of Mike Maignan after red card vs. Bournemouth AC Milan have condemned what they called "serious and unacceptable racist abuse" directed at goalkeeper Mike Maignan on social media following his red card in Thursday's Europa League loss to Bournemouth. News PA 'If Mo Salah scores three...' - Hearts boss on puzzle to mark Trabzonspor star Wouter Vrancken hailed auxiliary left-back Rogers Mato for the way he stepped into the breach against Mohamed Salah as injury-hit Hearts produced a spirited display in a 2-0 Conference League defeat away to Trabzonspor. News Tom Hamilton Rose urges humility after Bournemouth rout Milan as Amorim rues red card Marco Rose said his Bournemouth team will stay humble after they dominated AC Milan 3-0 in the Europa League while Ruben Amorim said the match was over as a contest for his team after Mike Maignan's red card in the first half. ESPN Tom Hamilton Bournemouth fairytale condemns Ruben Amorim to another nightmare in England Bournemouth never wanted this night to end. Ruben Amorim, however, would be happy to forget this evening on the south coast ever happened.