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Progress to the quarter-finals of the competition that made Unai Emery’s reputation, the Europa League continues to offer sanctuary for Aston Villa. The second leg was completed without too much drama, via the welcome sight of John McGinn scoring a fine goal. Villa have sorely missed him, though the contributions of Emi Martínez, in making a save then launching an attack, and Jadon Sancho were crucial to clinching the tie.
Sancho, the player who neither Manchester United nor Chelsea could get to the bottom of his talent, may be the latest uncut gem that Emery has polished up. Another wildcard, Leon Bailey, scored Villa’s late second.
Eyeing the Premier League, where Villa’s protection of their top-five place will continue against West Ham on Sunday, Emery had made six changes from last weekend’s listless defeat at Old Trafford. Tammy Abraham’s selection met popular demand, with Ollie Watkins struggling for form. Like Victor Lindelöf in defence, the Roma loanee was making his first start in more than a month.
A pre-match fans display celebrated 100 wins for the Emery regime. That mark was reached in the first leg though victory in northern France was one of only two wins from Villa’s previous nine. Lille, looking to break beyond the last 16 of this competition and its precursors for the first time, featured a familiar tormentor in Olivier Giroud, the wily fox whose 10 goals against Villa were his highest total against any opposition.
Villa began with vigour, McGinn choosing to shoot from distance when he had superior options, and Douglas Luiz surging on to Sancho’s cross but having his shot blocked. Lille, comfortable on the ball, appeared happy to hold a high line. Both teams waited patiently for openings, and an exchange of opportunities came when Sancho got clear from Morgan Rogers’s pass, only for his cross to be scrabbled clear. For Lille, Ayyoub Bouaddi, left unmarked, nodded over.
During his preparations, Emery had talked of European football being the standard Villa must aspire to. A nervous Holte End did not crackle as a year ago during famous Champions League encounters with Club Brugge and Paris Saint-Germain. Most of the noise came from a Lille contingent singing lustily, with Villa not giving their supporters much to feed off as that fast start ebbed.
Rogers, who had not scored since 7 February at Bournemouth, attempted to make things happen, as did McGinn, still finding his way back after two months of absence ended in the first leg. Abraham chased a Rogers pass but it had been given just too much purchase. When the Lille goalkeeper, Berke Ozer, could only palm away Amadou Onana’s header, the ball dropped for Sancho, only for him to dither when the ball was waiting to be hit.
The first half closed with the lifting of tempo from what had been group-game pace, shots on target at a premium.
Lille, attacking towards fans taking exception to Emi Martínez as a villain from France losing the 2022 World Cup final, began strongly, the instructions from Bruno Génésio to try to force the leveller. At that point Villa appeared all too content to sit back on their advantage.
Sancho running the ball out of play unchallenged spoke to a lack of focus that has endangered Villa in recent matches. But such is the enigma of Sancho that within moments, after Martínez had saved a grubber free-kick from Nabil Bentaleb, the winger had ghosted into space to receive the clearance. Sancho’s calm presence of mind laid up McGinn to score. As Sancho and McGinn received their congratulations, Martínez made sure to perform his celebrations in full view of the Lille fans. Emery’s response was to send on Watkins for Abraham.
For Lille, Giroud got the ball in the net, only for an offside flag to deny him but, with Watkins’s movement opening up space, Villa began to carve out high-quality chances. Rogers returned to the fore, fizzing an effort that deflected narrowly wide before Sancho blasted against an upright as Villa sensed blood in the water, and their fans an Italian job in the quarter-finals.
Lille’s efforts to find their way back were unconvincing. Martínez further enjoyed himself after a shot from Noah Edjouma, the substitute, that allowed the Argentinian to add artistic impression to a regulation save. The late appearance of Harvey Elliott, another enigmatic signing, one trusted rather less than Sancho, suggested Emery considered Villa’s job complete. Soon after, Bailey’s goal after more exemplary Watkins movement and typical unselfishness confirmed that calculation was correct.
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