Wonderful Watkins header earns Villa EL first-leg win in Lille

Lille vs Aston Villa. UEFA Europa League Round of 16.

5:45pm, Thursday 12th March 2026.

Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Match report as Ollie Watkins ends his barren spell with a super second-half header; Watkins, Amadou Onana and Emi Buendia had chances to add a second but Villa take one-goal advantage back to Villa Park for second leg of Europa League last-16 tie on March 19

Senior Football Journalist @psmithXI

Thursday 12 March 2026 19:44, UK

A moment of magic from Ollie Watkins gave Aston Villa a 1-0 first-leg win at Lille in their Europa League last-16 tie.

The striker's brilliant, looping header from Emi Buendia's flick-on means Unai Emery's side will be favourites to progress to a quarter-final against either Bologna or Roma ahead of the second leg against Lille at Villa Park on March 19.

Villa's lead really should be more at the halfway point in this tie. Amadou Onana clipped the bar from the edge of the box soon after the opener, Watkins then spurned a one-on-one chance and late on Buendia sent an acrobatic effort just wide.

But Emery will be quietly pleased to be taking an advantage away from a raucous Stade Pierre-Mauroy. His side had just one win in their previous seven outings but the four-time Europa League champion knows the steps to success in this competition.

Lille did lose the first leg of their play-off to reach this point at home to Red Star 1-0 before turning it around in Serbia so cannot be discounted and they showed their threat.

Olivier Giroud was agonisingly close to connecting with a close-range header in the first half and Emi Martinez - booed throughout due to his antics in Villa's 2024 Conference League shootout here - saved well from Matias Fernandez-Pardo after the goal.

However, it had largely been a cagey, low-quality contest until Watkins' header, with misplaced passes and off-target shots costing both sides in the final third.

How the teams lined up

Match stats

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The England man - who had managed just one goal in his previous 12 appearances - produced something special out of nowhere to take his team to victory and a step closer to the last eight.

More to follow...

Round of 16 second legs: March 19Quarter-finals: April 9 and 16Semi-finals: April 30 and May 7Final: May 20 [Besiktas Stadium, Istanbul]

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