Ollie Watkins’ looping header lifts Aston Villa to a 1-0 win over Lille in Europa League

By Canadian Press on March 12, 2026.

Ollie Watkins’ second-half header gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie on Thursday.

Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendía headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Özer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net.

Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ‘keeper.

In an all-Italian derby, Bologna and Roma drew 1-1 in the first leg.

Porto took home a 2-1 advantage from Stuttgart. Terem Moffi and Rodrigo Mora scored six minutes apart in the first half for Porto before Deniz Undav netted for Stuttgart before the interval.

In Athens, Vicente Taborda converted from the spot two minutes from time as Panathinaikos overcame Real Betis 1-0 in a game where both sides were reduced to 10.

Victory for England

With the victory, Villa became the first English team this week to win their first-leg game in European competitions.

None of England’s six clubs in the knockouts of the Champions League won, with Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool losing. Only Arsenal and Newcastle picked up draws.

Nottingham Forest in the Europa League and Crystal Palace in the Conference League will be in action later Thursday.

Villa was also boosted by the return from injury of captain John McGinn, who came on as substitute in the 77th minute. He had missed seven weeks with a knee injury.

All square in Italy

Federico Bernardeschi scored for host Bologna early in the second half to take a 1-0 lead against Roma. Substitute Lorenzo Pellegrini equalized just five minutes after he came off the bench.

The tie is still wide open, though Roma will take more experience into next week’s second leg. Roma was runner-up twice, including in 2023, in this competition and coach Gian Piero Gasperini won the Europa League two years ago with Atalanta.

The Europa League format that launched last year lets teams from the same country meet at any point in the knockout phase. Previously, national derbies were possible only from the quarterfinals.

Nottingham Forest and Lyon in action

Later Thursday, Nottingham Forest hosts Danish club Midtjylland.

Celta Vigo plays the first leg against league-phase winner Lyon, while Freiburg visits Genk.

In the third-tier Conference League, Crystal Palace hosts AEK Larnaca.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Karel Janicek, The Associated Press