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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. Their second leg with Lille was completed without drama, the welcome sight of John McGinn’s goal soothing fans’ nerves. Villa had sorely missed their Scottish standard bearer, though the contributions of Emi Martínez, in making a save then launching an attack, and Jadon Sancho in supplying McGinn in a flowing move that took 15 seconds were equally crucial.
“The matches were not so brilliant,” said Emery, who qualified for the competition’s quarter-final for the eighth time, a record; he has won it four times previously.
Sancho, the player whose latent talent neither Manchester United nor Chelsea could get to the bottom of, may well be the latest uncut gem that Emery has polished up, another quality that wins the Basque wide admiration. “We stuck to the gameplan, that’s what we needed,” said Sancho, a player not usually recognised for his tactical rigour. Another wildcard in Leon Bailey scored Villa’s late second.
Villa’s protection of their top-five place will continue against West Ham on Sunday, and Tammy Abraham’s selection amid six changes met popular demand. Ollie Watkins has lately struggled for form but his second-half cameo showed why he remains Emery’s first-choice striker. “The Premier League is the priority, this competition is very difficult to win,” said the Villa manager.
Lille featured a familiar tormentor in Olivier Giroud, the wily fox whose 10 goals against Villa were his highest total against any opposition. The 39-year-old twice had the ball in the net, only to be denied – correctly – by the assistant referee as the tide turned Villa’s way in the second half.
During a pedestrian first half, both teams waited patiently for openings before an exchange of opportunities arrived when Sancho got clear from Morgan Rogers’ pass, only for his cross to be scrabbled clear. For Lille, Ayyoub Bouaddi, left unmarked, nodded over, as most of the noise came from an away contingent singing lustily.
Rogers, without a goal since 7 February at Bournemouth, was the Villa player attempting most obviously to make things happen. McGinn, back after almost two months of absence ended last week in northern France, was also fully to the fore. When the Lille goalkeeper, Berke Ozer, could only palm away Amadou Onana’s header, the ball dropped for Sancho, only for him to dither with the ball waiting to be hit.
After that first-half group-match pace, shots on target at a premium, Lille lifted their tempo immediately after the break. Their fans meanwhile took great exception to Martínez as a villain from France losing the 2022 World Cup final. At that point, Villa appeared content to sit back on their advantage but Lille’s advances were always likely to leave space available on the counter.
Sancho running the ball out of play unchallenged spoke to a loss of focus that endangers Villa’s ambitions. And yet such is the enigma of Sancho that within moments, once Martínez had saved Nabil Bentaleb’s free-kick, the winger ghosted into space, his ball control impeccable. Sancho’s subsequent calm allowed him to lay up McGinn to score. “As soon as I saw [Martínez] get the ball, I kept on running,” said Sancho, next garlanding his captain. “We missed him a lot.”
McGinn returned the compliment: “He did all the hard work, and I just had to finish it off. He was man of the match by a mile tonight.” Emery’s view? “Sancho has high-level qualities. Today he showed it.” As Sancho and McGinn received their congratulations, Martínez made sure to perform his celebrations in full view of the Lille fans.
With Watkins’ superior movement now opening up space, Villa began to carve further high-quality chances. Rogers returned to the fore, fizzing an effort narrowly wide before Sancho blasted against an upright. Villa sensed blood in the water, and their fans an Italian job in the quarter-finals. Bologna, an opponent during last season’s Champions League adventures, are next up after defeating Roma.
Martínez further enjoyed himself. A shot from Noah Edjouma, the Lille substitute, allowed the Argentinian to add ostentation to a regulation save. “He’s a mad man. I know he’s a family man but he is a big kid inside,” said McGinn of Villa’s showman.
The late appearance of Harvey Elliott, another enigmatic signing, one trusted rather less than Sancho, suggested Emery considered Villa’s job complete. Bailey’s goal, supplied by Watkins’ intelligence and unselfishness, confirmed that calculation.
