Aston Villa will take a 3-1 advantage into the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Bologna after a hard-fought victory at a febrile Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. Ezri Konsa headed Unai Emery's side in front against the run of play in first-half stoppage time before Ollie Watkins struck twice in the second period to overwrite Jonathan Rowe's late reply for the hosts.
Bologna, playing in their first ever continental quarter-final, dominated long stretches of the match and registered 19 shots to Villa's eight, but two costly defensive errors and a clinical away display left Vincenzo Italiano's side facing a steep climb in Birmingham next week.
Hosts dominate but pay for VAR heartbreak
Bologna were the better team in the opening stages and should have led when Santiago Castro turned in Rowe's pass via a deflection off Konsa in the 26th minute, only for a VAR review to rule the striker fractionally offside. Emiliano Martinez had already been forced into action to deny an acrobatic scissor kick from left-back Juan Miranda.