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Aston Villa defeated Lille in the first leg of their UEL Round of 16 match.
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Watkins’ goal was crucial for the Premier League team against their French rivals.
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Nottingham Forest lost to Midtjylland.
Ollie Watkins scored a second-half header, leading Aston Villa to a 1-0 victory over Lille in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday.
After the hour mark, Ezri Konsa made a long pass that Emi Buendía headed to Watkins in the box. The England forward spotted goalkeeper Berke Özer off his line and sent a looping header over him into the net.
Shortly after, Watkins missed a chance to extend the lead when he failed to score in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper.
Nottingham Forest was unexpectedly defeated 1-0 by Danish team Midtjylland.
Brazilian forward Endrick scored late to earn Lyon a 1-1 draw against 10-man Celta Vigo. Celta had taken the lead with a goal from Javi Rueda before striker Borja Iglesias was sent off 10 minutes into the second half.
In an all-Italian fixture, Bologna and Roma finished 1-1 in the first leg.
Porto left Stuttgart with a 2-1 lead. Terem Moffi and Rodrigo Mora scored for Porto within six minutes of each other in the first half, before Deniz Undav netted for Stuttgart just before halftime.
Freiburg, another Bundesliga team, faces a challenge after a 1-0 defeat to Genk in Belgium.
In Athens, Vicente Taborda scored from the spot two minutes from time, leading Panathinaikos to a 1-0 victory over Real Betis, both teams playing with 10 men.
Ferencváros won 2-0 against Braga in Budapest.
Forest falls short
Substitute Guesung Cho scored the winning goal in the 80th minute for Nottingham.
Forest pressed hard but couldn’t score in challenging weather at the City Ground. They face a tough second leg in Denmark, along with an important Premier League match against Fulham on Sunday.
This defeat follows Forest’s earlier loss to Midtjylland at home in October.
Victory for Aston Villa
Villa became the first English club to win a first-leg match in European competitions this week.
None of the English teams in the Champions League knockouts won, as Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Liverpool all lost. Arsenal and Newcastle managed to draw.
In the Conference League, Crystal Palace drew 0-0 at home against AEK Larnaca.
Aston Villa was also boosted by the return of captain John McGinn, who played as a substitute in the 77th minute after a seven-week injury absence.
Even match in Italy
Federico Bernardeschi opened the scoring for Bologna early in the second half against Roma. Lorenzo Pellegrini equalized just five minutes after coming on as a substitute.
The tie remains competitive, though Roma has the advantage of experience heading into next week’s second leg. Roma has been a runner-up twice in this competition, including in 2023, and coach Gian Piero Gasperini won the Europa League two years ago with Atalanta.
The Europa League format allows teams from the same country to meet at any point in the knockout phase, unlike in previous years where national matchups could only occur from the quarterfinals.
Fiorentina wins in Conference League
Fiorentina, a two-time runner-up, needed a stoppage-time penalty to win 2-1 against Polish club Rakow. AEK Athens moved closer to the quarterfinals after a 4-0 victory at Celje.