Watkins reaches ton as Aston Villa thump Bologna to book Europa League semi spot

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bologna/0M9xNN8N/"]Bologna[/a]’s hopes of progression at kick-off looked fanciful, but a strong start offered encouragement. Federico Bernardeschi forced the returning Emiliano Martinez into a save early on, while Jonathan Rowe looked particularly dangerous down the left.[/p][p]He was marshalled well by Matty Cash, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Villa[/a] soon displayed their ruthless edge to take the lead on the night.[/p][p]An intricate move through the middle saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/buendia-emiliano/dYDvGYIu/"]Emiliano Buendia[/a]’s through ball find [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a] on the inside left, [b]and he squared for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/watkins-ollie/rHnOkDD8/"]Ollie Watkins[/a] to tap in his 100th goal for the club, while he also became the first Villa player to ever net 10 major European goals.[/b][/p][embed guid="b9c81e66-dad0-41eb-bafd-9742290522ad" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2044858672841465900" social-type="twitter" /][p]Rogers’ curled effort needed saving by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ravaglia-federico/219bD5Kr/"]Federico Ravaglia[/a] in the immediate aftermath of the opener, and the Bologna stopper thwarted the Villa talisman again from the penalty spot on the 25-minute mark, making a strong save down to his right after Martin Vitik had handled [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/digne-lucas/v9Ux4sua/"]Lucas Digne[/a]’s cross to concede the spot-kick.[/p][p][b]Undeterred, Villa caught Bologna cold from a throw-in moments after that save, with Digne’s delivery controlled brilliantly by Buendia on the dead-ball line, before he cut inside and beat the goalkeeper at his near post.[/b][/p][image alt="Match momentum" id="c8e8d186-b7e3-4a8d-9b64-2abfded268bb" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="13d9f4e1-80eb-49a9-aad8-b16bd514176a" original-width="1920" original-height="1080" /][p][b]Ravaglia’s near post was breached again in the 39th minute by a determined Rogers, who lasered an effort past his nemesis of the night to end a 12-game goal drought for club and country.[/b][/p][p]That strike well and truly put the tie to bed, and though Vincenzo Italiano desperately tried to inject some energy into his dejected side with a triple change at the break, the second half was a cruise for Villa.[/p][embed guid="e4aea6cc-ee98-45f3-ae28-8af0d2066135" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2044881980483915904" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]The hosts very rarely ventured forward in the second period, yet they still managed to add a fourth through Ezri Konsa’s brilliant volley on the turn.[/b][/p][p]This result marks a sixth successive home clean sheet against Italian opposition in major European competition, while Bologna bow out of Europe with a sixth consecutive away defeat against an English side, three of which have come against Villa.[/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a] (Aston Villa)[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="085b1983-7c7c-43fb-822d-9c0cfeded2aa" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="dff7099b-eeea-461f-94dc-09c1fd73ebf3" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/bologna-0M9xNN8N/?mid=f34SiwCF"]Click here to see all the stats of the match.[/a][/b][/p]