Watkins provides crucial motivation at halftime in Aston Villa victory
Ollie Watkins mentioned that he needed to give his Aston Villa teammates a halftime alert during their 3-1 first-leg Europa League quarterfinal triumph over Bologna on Thursday.
Villa endured a challenging first half against Bologna, who had a goal disallowed for offside by Santiago Castro before Lewis Ferguson hit the crossbar, but the English team remained resolute, with Ezri Konsa heading the visitors ahead before halftime.
Watkins extended Villa’s lead after the interval, and Jonathan Rowe’s late goal appeared to reduce the deficit ahead of next week’s second leg at Villa Park until Watkins’ stoppage-time strike restored their two-goal cushion.
Bologna registered 19 shots during the match and had greater possession, and the striker acknowledged that his team was fortunate to be leading at halftime.
“It was massive,” he stated. “In the first half, they put us under significant pressure and were controlling the game. We got lucky; at halftime, I told the boys we were fortunate and needed to wake up.”
“They had a disallowed goal, and if that had stood and it remained 1-0, it would have been a long way back because they were playing tough today, so we got lucky.”
Watkins increased his season total to 12 goals across all competitions, positioning Villa favorably for a second European semifinal in three years.
“As the season progresses, we are eager to go; I could play another 90 minutes right now,” he remarked. “I’m looking forward to the final few matches. Next week against them as well, I’m hungry.”
“That goal at the end alleviates some pressure, and with a two-goal lead returning to Villa Park, we will make it challenging for them. We must continue to push; we are in a good position.”
This victory marked Aston Villa’s eighth consecutive win in the Europa League, but manager Unai Emery noted that his team had a fortunate experience in the first half, in particular.
“Happy but seeking balance in everything we played in the first leg; it is a fantastic result,” he told TNT Sports. “How we performed over 90 minutes was satisfactory in some aspects but not in others.”
“In the first half, we were somewhat timid. The result was better than our performance in the first half, which was not brilliant. The second half was entirely different. We started fantastically, began to dominate more, and controlled the game as we had planned in the first half but failed to execute.”
“When we felt comfortable in the match, they scored a goal, but we reacted excellently with the last corner and managed to score.”
Aston Villa will now be strong favorites to advance when they host the Serie A side at Villa Park in a week’s time, but Emery emphasized that they will not take anything for granted.
“Still a fantastic result, but the second leg remains to be played, and I know they are dangerous because of how they are competing, which is impressive.”
“In the second leg, they will attempt to suppress us. Naturally, my message in the dressing room is to continue executing the plan for the second leg; we will have a new strategy while respecting them.”
PA contributed to this report.
