Villa cruise to the Europa League quarterfinals after a home win

Aston Villa and coach Unai Emery love Lille, and the reason is simple – the French team is the only one that Villa managed to beat (twice) in all competitions in the last seven games. The English team hasn’t won since 11th February and registered only defeats and one draw until Lille came in.

After two games, the Villains are through to the quarterfinals with an overall score of 3-0 (2-0 in Birmingham), but it doesn’t mean that they are out of crisis. Their performance in the Europa League on Thursday night was still poor, and Emery knows it. In the first 45 minutes, they had one shot in total, and even though they had the result from the first game (1-0) and didn’t have to attack, the effort was still bad. The hosts woke up in the second half and scored two goals for the win, but Lille offered no fight whatsoever, so this win could be deceiving. Villa is still in the mix for the Champions League place and must win at home against relegation stragglers West Ham on Sunday.

The first (meaningful) thing in the first half happened in the 42nd minute. McGinn's corner was whipped in from the right, and it was perfect for Onana, who leaped to meet it. He did his best, but Ozer made a smart stop. Nothing else really happened, and it was probably the fastest forgotten first half in football history.

The second half was instantly better (there was no way it could be as bad as the first), mainly because of the Villa goal, which finally forced Lille to attack. In the 52nd minute, the guests had a free kick. Dibu Martínez saved it and started the counterattack with a long and precise ball to Sancho on the left. The former England international quickly came to Lille’s penalty area and assisted McGinn, who followed the action and was all alone. Villa’s captain had no problem scoring from an obvious chance, and the crowd was pleased. With a 2-0 overall advantage, Lille had a mountain to climb, and the French team didn’t have the quality to do it. Giroud scored in the 61st and 81st minutes, but both goals were visibly offside. Between those two chances, Villa scored another one in the 86th minute, when Bailey, who came off the bench, got an easy ball from Watkins.

UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - ROUND OF 16

Return leg

Wednesday

Braga - Ferencvaros 4-0 (3-0)

/Horta 11, 53, Grillitsch 15, Martinez 34/

Thursday

Freiburg - Genk 5-1 (2-1)

/Ginter 19, Matanovic 25, Grifo 53, Suzuki 56, Eggstein 79 - Smets 39/

Midtjylland - Nottingham Forest 1-2 (0-1)

/Erlić 69 - Domínguez 40, Yates 52/

Olympique Lyon - Celta 0-2 (0-0)

/Rueda 61, Jutglà 90+2/

Aston Villa - Lille 2-0 (0-0)

/McGinn 54, Bailey 85/

Betis - Panathinaikos 4-0 (2-0)

/Ruibal 8, Amrabat 45' + 1, Hernandez 53, Antony 66/

Porto - Stuttgart 2-0 (1-0)

/Gomes 21, Froholdt 72/

Roma - Bologna 3-4 a.e.t (1-2)

/Ndicka 32, Malen 69(p), Pellegrini 80 - Rowe 22, Bernardeschi 45+2(p), Castro 58, Cambiaghi 122/