Aston Villa ease into Europa League quarter-finals

Aston Villa ease into Europa League quarter-finals Aston Villa made no mistake against Lille and booked their place in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. The Villans went into this one with a one-goal advantage after Ollie Watkins header in France and knew all they had to do was see out the 90 minutes to progress. It wasn't a thrilling first half at Villa Park though with the only real close chance coming from a corner a few minutes before the break.

John McGinn whipped the ball in with Amadou Onana angling a header that Berke Ozer had to be at full-stretch to keep out. Of course, a first of half of little action was only good news for Unai Emery and his team especially with just how little the visitors offered going forward despite trailing on aggregate. That goal advantage naturally meant that Villa could look to hit Lille on the break as they eventually showed more ambition and that's what happened early into the second half when Emiliano Martínez claimed a freekick before launching a ball up to Jadon Sancho .

The wide man waited for the on-rushing McGinn who finished off a rapid counter to make it 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate. The French side did have the net with just over an hour gone after a scooped pass through to Olivier Giroud who finished style but the veteran was offside. Villa had a great chance to add another when again they broke with Sancho but this time he elected to shoot and saw his effort bounce back off the post.

The tie was finished off five minutes from time when Watkins got in behind the defence and squared the ball for Leon Bailey to have an easy finish and make it 3-0 on aggregate. Villa will now take on the winner of AS Roma and Bologna in the quarter-finals. Incidents: The story of the match 1': The match begins 11': Missed opportunity!