Aston Villa moved a step closer to the Europa League semi-finals with a 3-1 first-leg win over Bologna, courtesy of a brace from Ollie Watkins. 

After a promising start at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Emery's side survived a scare as Santiago Castro bundled over the line from a deflection off Konsa, though the goal was swiftly ruled out following a VAR review for offside in the build-up. 

Bologna sought to respond quickly and nearly did as Lewis Ferguson's close-range strike clipped the underside of the crossbar before Villa took the lead on the stroke of half-time. 

Youri Tielemans' whipped corner floated narrowly over Federico Ravaglia's fingertips, allowing Ezri Konsa to powerfully nod home at the far post to put Villa ahead against the run of play. 

Watkins doubled Villa's advantage six minutes after the restart in emphatic fashion as Torbjorn Heggem cheaply turned over to Emi Buendia, whose unknowing touch teed up Watkins to slide through Ravaglia's legs. 

Federico Bernardeschi went close late on, firing into the side netting from Jonathan Rowe’s cut-back, before Rowe reduced the deficit with a superb curling effort on the stroke of full-time. 

However, Villa had the final say as Bologna again failed to deal with a Tielemans corner, allowing Watkins to tap in from close range and restore their two-goal cushion. 

Data Debrief: Watkins shines to put Villa on top 

Watkins has been directly involved in a goal across three successive major European games for the very first time (three goals, one assist), while he has netted in back-to-back away games for the first time in Europe.

Emery's side have also scored in their last 11 games in the Europa League – their longest run of games with a goal in the competition (since at least 2007-08). 

Bologna, meanwhile, have lost a home game in European competition by at least two goals for the first time in their history.  

Overall, the Serie A side produced just 0.9 expected goals from 19 shots to Villa's 1.64 from eight attempts.