With a nudge into the open net in front of him, Ollie Watkins brought up his century and Villa Park rose to its feet to congratulate one of its all-time greats.
His opener in this cakewalk of a Europa League quarter-final tie against Bologna took Watkins to 100 goals for Villa. Remarkably, for a club of such stature, he became the first to do so since Peter McParland in 1961.
Dwight Yorke never got there, stranded in the 90s. Neither did Peter Withe nor Andy Gray. Watkins has.
It came how so many of the previous 99 have: from close range after smart movement to find space where other strikers struggle. After a beautiful exchange of passes in Villa’s midfield, Emi Buendia found Morgan Rogers on the left, who slipped the ball across the goal and Watkins did the rest from four yards.
Watkins has struggled to find his best this season, so much so that Thomas Tuchel opted to audition Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Dominic Solanke ahead of him in his final squad before the World Cup.
But right when it matters, with Villa in search of Champions League football via either European glory or domestic success, Watkins has found it again. A goal in victory over West Ham after his England snub, two against Bologna in the previous leg, and another here to set up a semi-final clash with Nottingham Forest.
Ollie Watkins scored the opener against Bologna on Thursday night to bring up 100 Aston Villa goals
Rogers scored Villa’s third during a sizzling 23-minute period in the first half at Villa Park
Villa battered the Italian side 3-0 on the night and 6-1 on aggregate to secure passage to the Europa League semi-finals
And on a night of fitting milestones, Villa’s safe passage into the last four came 10 years to the day since the club’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed with defeat at Old Trafford under Eric Black. How long ago that feels now, how far this club has come under Unai Emery.
The Spaniard devours nights like this. He’s tasted defeat in just one of his last 28 games in this competition. He’s won it four times with Sevilla and Villarreal and don’t count him out of a fifth with Villa.
Bologna’s game plan was simple: get under Villa’s skin. When all your defeats have come to this one team, that’s all you have left. Twice in the first three minutes, two players went down clutching their faces under the most imaginary of contacts.
Emery twirled his hands like a conductor in the dugout, encouraging his men to keep their rhythm.
And so they did. An early long-range strike from Federico Bernardeschi swerved sharply through the night sky only to find the thankful clutches of Emi Martinez, back between the sticks after pulling out of the side in the warm-up for the third time this season against Forest, was as good as it got for Bologna until Riccardo Orsolini skewed a chance over the bar late on. Emery’s men had soon brushed aside any worries of a nervy night.
Watkins put the tie to bed after just 16 minutes but Villa were not done. Buendia slotted in beautifully from a tight angle after collecting a long throw from Lucas Digne just 46 seconds after Morgan Rogers saw his penalty saved.
In one sense, it was a short-lived slice of justice for a handball decision that had it been given in the Premier League would have led to a week-long inquest as Rogers diverted a header against the raised arm of Martin Vitik, looking the other way, from point-blank range.
Emiliano Buendia found the back of the net to put the tie to bed with just 26 minutes on the clock
Ezri Konsa put the cherry on top of a perfect night by netting a smart volley late on
Rogers would get his goal soon enough, burying it through the legs of Federico Ravaglia from a similar spot to Buendia.
After 11 games without one, he sure needed it. He initially leant cooly against the corner flag in celebration but could barely keep up the pretence, soon bent double and roaring in delight.
In the end, it was the perfect night. Emery, still roaring instructions from the touchline with his side six goals up on aggregate as Ezri Konsa added another late on, was even able to give his star players an early night. No time to rest with Sunderland on Sunday and a top five place to secure.
But even then he left it until later than expected. After a difficult period, Villa have found top gear again and there’s not a chance Emery allows them to take their foot off the pedal with glory in sight.
