Unai Emery declared Villa must give the Europa Conference League “200 per cent attention” if they are to win it, yet an inability to stay focused helped keep this quarter-final tie with Lille very much alive.
With Villa leading through goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn, Bafode Diakite took advantage of slack defending at a corner to score six minutes from time and keep things nicely poised heading into next week’s second leg in France.
It added up to a rather frustrating finish for Villa, playing in their 100th match in Uefa competition, who are targeting a first European semi-final since they won the European Cup in 1982. Lille looked confident but they were soon behind thanks to Watkins. The striker had already seen one shot blocked and another saved by Lucas Chevalier before heading Villa into a 13th minute lead.
Emery was also making hand signals, though they were notably more fraught. Tempers on the touchline were threatening to boil over, with Fonseca booked for dissent in the first half stoppage time, while members of staff from both benches then had to be separated when the whistle blew.
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