UEFA Europa League

FT Thursday, April 9, 2026
Aston Villa LWLWW 3
–
Bologna DWWLW 1
1st2ndT
AVL123
BOL011
1st Leg · Renato Dall'Ara · 31,142 att. · Paramount+

Match Report

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Aston Villa in control after Watkins brace against Bologna

Ollie Watkins' second-half brace helped give Aston Villa a comfortable 3-1 lead over Bologna heading into next week's Europa League quarterfinal second leg at Villa Park.

Full story at ESPN →

Team Stats

15
Fouls
19
1
Yellow Cards
2
0
Red Cards
0
1
Offsides
7
3
Corner Kicks
4
3
Saves
1
42
Possession
58
8
SHOTS
19
4
ON GOAL
4
0.5
On Target %
0.2
0
Penalty Goals
0
0
Penalty Kicks Taken
0
286
Accurate Passes
439
359
Passes
489
0.8
Pass Completion %
0.9
4
Accurate Crosses
3
5
Crosses
14
0.8
Cross %
0.2
46
Long Balls
37
12
Accurate Long Balls
22
0.3
Long Balls %
0.6
0
Blocked Shots
10
8
Effective Tackles
7
13
Tackles
11
0.6
Tackle %
0.6
3
Interceptions
8
16
Effective Clearances
12
16
Clearances
12

Head to Head

AVL leads series 2-0

Lineups

BOL · 4-3-3

  1. 13Federico RavagliaG
  2. 26Jhon LucumíCD-L
  3. 14Torbjørn HeggemCD-R
  4. 33Juan MirandaLB
  5. 17João MárioRB
  6. 8Remo FreulerCM
  7. 4Tommaso PobegaLM
  8. 19Lewis FergusonRM
  9. 9Santiago CastroF
  10. 11Jon RoweLF
  11. 10Federico BernardeschiRF

AVL · 4-2-3-1

  1. 23Emiliano MartínezG
  2. 14Pau TorresCD-L
  3. 4Ezri KonsaCD-R
  4. 12Lucas DigneLB
  5. 2Matty CashRB
  6. 27Morgan RogersAM
  7. 8Youri TielemansLM
  8. 24Amadou OnanaRM
  9. 11Ollie WatkinsF
  10. 10Emiliano BuendíaAM-L
  11. 7John McGinnAM-R

Timeline

  1. 14' Jhon Lucumí (Bologna) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
  2. 44' Goal! Bologna 0, Aston Villa 1. Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa) header from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Youri Tielemans with a cross following a corner.
  3. 51' Goal! Bologna 0, Aston Villa 2. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Emiliano Buendía.
  4. 65' Tommaso Pobega (Bologna) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
  5. 67' Substitution, Bologna. Nikola Moro replaces Tommaso Pobega.
  6. 67' Substitution, Bologna. Riccardo Orsolini replaces Lewis Ferguson.
  7. 80' Substitution, Aston Villa. Lamare Bogarde replaces Amadou Onana.
  8. 82' Substitution, Bologna. Jens Odgaard replaces Santiago Castro.
  9. 85' Morgan Rogers (Aston Villa) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
  10. 88' Substitution, Aston Villa. Ian Maatsen replaces Morgan Rogers.
  11. 88' Substitution, Aston Villa. Leon Bailey replaces Emiliano Buendía.
  12. 90' Goal! Bologna 1, Aston Villa 2. Jonathan Rowe (Bologna) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Jhon Lucumí.
  13. 90' Substitution, Bologna. Nicolò Cambiaghi replaces Remo Freuler.
  14. 90'+4' Goal! Bologna 1, Aston Villa 3. Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) left footed shot from very close range to the centre of the goal. Assisted by Youri Tielemans with a cross following a corner.

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.