Villa’s win in Lille, as seen by Dave Woodhall.
The myth of English club dominance in Europe has taken a bit of a hit this week, giving the media the chance for a bit of hand-wringing and providing the rest of us with an opportunity to laugh at the whole mercenary lot of them. Luckily there was one club who managed to do the nation proud.
Villa arrived in Lille on the crest of a slump and with a few questions being asked about Unai Emery’s team selection. Keeping Ollie Watkins in the side and having Lamare Bogarde at right-back didn’t exactly silence anyone but the presence of John McGinn on the bench provided a bit of good news.
And so the match began and there wasn’t much to talk about for the first hour. Villa could have had a penalty when Bogarde was brought down and Emiliano Martinez again pushed out a shot that he could have held onto but the first half was goalless and for a while it seemed the second would go the same way.
Then on the hour a goal did come, and from a combination of unusual circumstance and surprising ability. Ezri Konsa’s high ball forward was met by Emiliano Buendia, who is scarcely known for his aerial prowess but whose header was met by Ollie Watkins. The Lille keeper was off his line, their defence unable to get to Watkins’ looping effort and Villa were ahead.
In the next few minutes Amadou Onana’s swerving shot clipped the bar while a quick break found Watkins through but he was brought down while trying to take the ball round the keeper and again there was no penalty. After that there was the welcome return of John McGinn; midfielder, captain, talisman. Just having him on the bench was enough to inspire while seeing him fitting into the team as though he’d never been away gave hope for the rest of the season.
Unai’s other substitutions were also effective, bolstering Villa’s defence and providing fresh legs. Martinez getting a late booking for timewasting was the evening’s least-surprising moment while the final minute appearance of Harvey Elliott was a bit more unexpected.
As the game wound down Martinez had to make a couple of saves and Buendia’s acrobatic mis-kick just went the wrong side of the post, but at the final whistle Villa could look back on a performance that wasn’t great and a result that wasn’t far off it.
Lamare Bogarde stood out, putting in a solid performance in what was his third-best position while the whole defence was as solid as they have been all season. The midfield duo of Onana and Douglas Luiz had their best game since being forced together and Watkins looked a lot livelier after his goal.
The tie isn’t over yet and Lille did enough to show that Villa can’t be complacent next week. Villa, though, showed that they should be able to get through to the quarter-finals without too much trouble. And of course, we’ve got Super John McGinn.
