Aston Villa edged a thoroughly uninspiring first leg against Lille 1-0 at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Thursday night, with Ollie Watkins’ header proving the difference between the two sides.
It was a desperately poor first half from both teams. Neither goalkeeper was seriously tested until the 40th minute, when Morgan Rogers fired well over from distance. The only moment of note before the break came when Emiliano Martínez palmed away a long range Perraud strike, hardly the stuff of European nights.
The second half started in much the same vein, with both sides struggling to fashion anything of real quality.
Villa broke the deadlock out of nowhere when Ezri Konsa launched a hopeful ball forward, Emiliano Buendía somehow flicked it on, and Watkins nodded neatly over goalkeeper Berke Özer. It was a scrappy goal but a deserved one given Villa’s slightly greater threat throughout.
Amadou Onana then rattled the crossbar with a curling effort from outside the box, which would have been a far more fitting way to score.
Lille, who had failed to trouble Villa before conceding, looked no more threatening afterwards. They had plenty of possession in the closing stages but created next to nothing, with Martínez comfortably dealing with the little that came his way.
Villa head back to Birmingham in a strong position, while Lille, winless in seven of their last nine home games, now face an uphill task at Villa Park next week.
