Watkins and McGinn help Unai Emery have a grand night in win over Lille

By his own admission Unai Emery is driven by the possibility of getting his hands on another trophy and Aston Villa’s first piece of silverware since 1996. Emery spelled out as much in his programme notes, detailing the seven semi-finals and five finals in which he has led teams, tasting victory on four occasions. Such is his obsession, he pointed out it is eight finals if you count the Super Cups.

Villa’s quest to win the Europa Conference League remains on after goals from Ollie Watkins and John McGinn earned victory in front of a pair of royals but Bafodé Diakité’s late header dampened their enthusiasm and gives Lille hope for the return leg. Villa had to survive a nervy finale in which the substitute Yusuf Yazici went close for the the visitors.

Emery was not exactly playing down the magnitude of this occasion, Villa’s first European quarter-final for 26 years, and no wonder given the personal milestone attached. This was Emery’s 1000th game as a manager and as McGinn led Villa’s players out of the tunnel, staring back at them in the Holte End was a giant flag bearing an image of Emery punching the air accompanied with the number.

Eight clubs and 11 trophies on from those early days at Lorca Deportiva, the former Murcia club where he finished his playing career and started his decorated spell in the dugout, he joins some of the most revered managers – Ancelotti, Ferguson, Mourinho, Wenger to name a few who are part of a select group – in racking up 1,000 games on the touchline.

Emery is in esteemed company and is determined for his Villa side to mix it with the elite next season, the thought of securing a Champions League place at the forefront of his mind. That is not to say he had one eye on Sunday’s trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal and Emery was unhappy with the line of questioning that dared to suggest the domestic campaign may occupy his mind when it came to selection here.

As it was, Villa were unchanged from the frustrating 3-3 draw against Brentford, after which Watkins questioned whether Villa lack a big-team mentality. This was a chance to offer a reminder of their credentials and why they are favourites for this competition.

The opening stages were uneventful but, unsurprisingly, it was Watkins who earned Villa the lead with his 25th goal of the season. Emery was unmoved but up in the stands Villa fan Prince William rose to his feet to applaud alongside Prince George. Watkins saw a shot repelled by the Lille goalkeeper, Lucas Chevalier, and headed in unmarked at the back post from the subsequent corner. It was a move straight off the training ground, presumably one dreamed up by their Scottish set-piece coach, Austin MacPhee.

Lille, it is fair to say, felt some dark arts were at play, with Morgan Rogers holding one Lille defender in Ismaily and Diego Carlos blocking another. Benjamin Andre, the Lille captain, asked questions of the Norwegian referee, Espen Eskås, and Paulo Fonseca made his feelings plain to the fourth official, Rohit Saggi.

Lille, fourth in Ligue 1, felt aggrieved but the first half was anything but routine from a Villa perspective. A few minutes before the interval Emery fumed at Rogers’s stray pass gifting Hakon Haraldsson possession, presenting Jonathan David with a chance. By that point Emiliano Martínez had already saved from Edon Zhegrova and Diakité. Leon Bailey did not seize on a window to double Villa’s lead, sending a shot over when looking for the top corner.

Only Arsenal and Everton have scored more set-piece goals in the top flight this season and Villa were dangerous from dead balls. A free-kick routine that culminated in Youri Tielemans shot that almost resulted in a second, only for Tiago Santos to throw himself to the floor to intervene. A minute later, a corner routine paid dividends. Douglas Luiz played it short to Bailey, who moseyed with the ball for a second or two before locating McGinn on the edge of the area. McGinn’s sweeping left-foot shot tickled Gabriel Gudmundsson en route to the bottom corner.

Villa found themselves in a near-identical position to last weekend, when they raced into a two-goal lead early. It felt like deja vu too when Gudmundsson side-footed in Santos’s cross six minutes after McGinn struck. A hush fell among but the goalscorer was offside.

Villa were never assured defensively and while they did not crumble as against Brentford, Diakité flicked in a header from the former Manchester United midfielder Angel Gomes to ensure this tie is very much alive.