Watkins double inspires Villa victory at Bologna while Forest battle to Porto draw
Ollie Watkins struck twice as Aston Villa claimed a 3-1 win at Bologna, while a Martim Fernandes own goal helped Nottingham Forest secure a 1-1 draw at Porto in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final ties on Thursday.
Elsewhere, SC Freiburg took a significant step toward the semi-finals by beating Celta Vigo 3-0 at home. Real Betis drew 1-1 away at Braga on Wednesday.
Villa took the lead a minute before the break through an Ezri Konsa header, with Watkins doubling the advantage in the 51st minute after capitalising on an error from Bologna defender Torbjorn Heggem.
The hosts pulled a goal back late on when Jonathan Rowe managed to squeeze a shot into the net from inside the box.
However, Watkins struck his second of the night deep into stoppage time to restore the two-goal cushion ahead of the return leg.
In Porto, William Gomes gave the hosts an 11th-minute lead with a tap-in from a low cross. However, Forest were level two minutes later when a misplaced backpass from Fernandes caught Diogo Costa off guard and rolled into the net despite the goalkeeper’s attempt to recover.
Forest thought they had completed a comeback just after the hour mark when Igor Jesus turned the ball into an empty net, but the goal was overturned by VAR for a foul on Costa, who was left prone following a heavy collision with the forward.
Vincenzo Grifo gave Freiburg the lead after 10 minutes against Celta by curling the ball into the far corner. Jan-Niklas Beste doubled the advantage in the 32nd minute to put the German side firmly in control.
Matthias Ginter put the result beyond doubt in the 78th minute, heading home from a corner to leave Celta with a mountain to climb in the return leg.
Betis fought back to secure a 1-1 draw at Braga as a 61st-minute penalty from Cucho Hernandez cancelled out Florian Grillitsch’s early opener.
The return legs are scheduled for next Thursday.