If this was the biggest test yet of Aston Villa’s European ambitions under their multiple continental-trophy-winning manager Unai Emery, then it was a test they passed. Maybe not with ‘flying colours’, but a pass is a pass.
After defeating the likes of AZ Alkmaar, Legia Warsaw and Ajax on their way to the Europa Conference League quarter-finals, this was a big step up.
A Lille side who won the Ligue 1 title a couple of seasons back, with a top-class coach in Paulo Fonseca and two of the game’s most in-form forwards in Jonathan David and Edon Zhegrova.
Fortunately, Emery has a World Cup-winning goalkeeper in his ranks, Emiliano Martinez stepping up to deny both David and Zhegrova – not to mention Bafode Diakite – in the first-half alone.
Fonseca’s Lille managed almost double the amount of shots on target compared to their hosts – seven to four – but while Ollie Watkins and John McGinn found the net, Martinez’s enduring brilliance ensured that Lille would have to wait until the 84th minute for a consolation goal to take into next week’s second leg in France.
Aston Villa see off Lille in quarter-final first leg
“We have a feeling of frustration,” Fonseca, who has previously held talks with Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United, tells La Voix du Nord. “Because I think we played a good match. We had chances and, in the end, we lost.
“But I am satisfied with the courage of my players. Aston Villa are a great team with a lot of experience. They have a goal in advance but we must continue to believe in (our chances of reaching the semi-finals).”
Fonseca highlighted the qualities of the ‘amazing’ Watkins in his pre-match press conference. The England international’s early opener on Thursday night took his tally for the season to a staggering 25 goals.
It was the performance of a man at the other end of the pitch, however, who left Fonseca with a pang of frustration, Martinez almost single-handedly keeping Lille off the scoresheet in a hotly-contested first 45 minutes at Villa Park.
“We had three (shots) the first-half which were saved by the goalkeeper,” the former Porto, Roma and Shakhtar Donetsk coach adds. “Indeed, when we have so many situations against a team like Aston Villa, we have to do better.
“After Aston Villa’s second goal we had no choice but to do more. We had to be even more offensive and it was the time to take that risk.
“Tactically, we were very good. But we also lacked technical precision.”
Unai Emery chasing another European trophy
Emery has won four European trophies during a stellar career. Three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal, defeating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United side in the 2020 Europa League final.
The Spaniard, meanwhile, knows better than to assume Villa have a place in the semi-finals of Conference League tied up, accepting in conversation with the club’s official website that there is still a job to be done at the Stade Geoffroy Guichard next Thursday.
“The result was very tight and it was a tight match, very difficult,” Emery said.
“We prepared the match understanding and respecting them, and we won. We have to be, more or less, happy and respecting them even more than we were.
“(Lille) will be strong in their stadium. Now, we have to try to play 90 minutes thinking how we can analyse the match deeply and better playing there.
“We have to try to get a good result there.”
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
