Aston Villa turn into prime Wimbledon to earn precious first-leg lead against Lille

It was more Wimbledon than the tiki-taka football conceived in Unai Emery’s homeland of Spain. But the Villa manager will not mind, with his team recording a hard-fought and needed win after worrying results in their previous four games.

Watkins’s goal was Villa’s first shot on target, which points to their problems not being totally solved with one victory in the hostility of Stade Pierre-Mauroy. They need to improve on their composure in the final third of the pitch or risk getting overtaken in the race for the Champions League places over the next two months.

Yet a win is a win, with another cause for optimism being John McGinn’s return from injury to make an appearance off the bench. Watkins also desperately needed his goal, having gone this season without scoring in the Europa League, nor in any game since January.

This was a reminder to Thomas Tuchel, the England manager, that he is the best option as Harry Kane’s back-up at the World Cup despite others staking a claim for that place, not least his Villa team-mate Tammy Abraham.

Perhaps a bigger test will be against Manchester United at the weekend, when Villa can climb back to third with a win. United will be a different proposition to Lille, who fielded their oldest team in a European game with an average age of 29.

It was also a sweet evening for Emiliano Martínez, who was mercilessly jeered by Lille fans who did not forget his gamesmanship during a Europa Conference League tie two years ago. He received a second yellow card in the penalty shoot-out of that match, but not a red card due to rules. His antics in the World Cup final against Les Bleus means he will always be “Public Enemy No 1”, as one French publication branded him.

Martínez produced his best to deny Soriba Diaoune, while also keeping an effort from Matias Fernandez-Pardo out.

Watkins’ goal came just after the hour mark when Konsa launched the ball forward from his own half, with Emi Buendía flicking on for Watkins to head over Berke Özer. It meant a 100th win for Emery as Villa manager, the fastest of a Villa manager to reach that milestone.

More to follow…