Villa rode its luck at times at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, but the host side lacked the cutting edge to beat Emiliano Martinez.

It took a moment of real quality from Watkins to make the difference.

In the 61st minute, Emiliano Buendia helped on a ball into the box, with Watkins showing great ingenuity to leap above his marker and send a looping header over the advancing Berke Ozer.

Former Lille midfielder Amadou Onana almost doubled Villa's advantage, but his wicked long-range effort clipped the crossbar.

Martinez was called into action a number of times as Villa failed to put the game to bed, with Buendia acrobatically turning wide, but the visitor saw out the win to take a lead back to Villa Park.