Ollie Watkins scored in Aston Villa's 4-0 win over Bologna in the Europa League and entered the club's history books in the process
Ollie Watkins of Aston Villa
Ollie Watkins made history for Aston Villa in their win over Bologna(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)
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Ollie Watkins made history for Aston Villa as he helped the club reach the semi-final of the Europa League. Villa claimed a 4-0 win over Bologna in the quarter-final second leg on Thursday night to reach the next stage of the competition with a 7-1 victory on aggregate.
Watkins opened the scoring for Villa to give Unai Emery’s side the advantage in the tie, with Emi Buendia, Morgan Rogers and Ezri Konsa also on the score sheet at Villa Park.
Villa will now look ahead to the semi-final against Premier League rivals Nottingham Forest later this month, with Watkins reaching an important milestone in the win over Bologna.
Watkins' goal against Bologna was his 100th in a Villa shirt since his move from Brentford in September 2020, in what was also his 269th appearance for the club.
In doing so, Watkins becomes only the 12th Villa player to reach the milestone, and joins Billy Walker, Harry Hampton, Joe Bache, John Devey, Eric Houghton, Pongo Waring, Johnny Dixon, Peter McParland, Billy Garraty, Dai Astley and Len Capwell on the list.
While Watkins will be determined to have a successful season for Villa, the 30-year-old may also have an eye on this summer when the World Cup takes centre stage.
Watkins will hope to be included in Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions squad that travels across the Atlantic for the tournament, which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Before kick-off, former Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart explained why Watkins deserves a chance to be included in the England squad for this summer's World Cup.
"We all know Harry Kane is the main man for England, he’s one of the best players in the world right now," Hart said on TNT Sport. "He's absolutely incredible.
"Dominic Calvert-Lewin's had a good purple patch this season, I think Danny Welbeck will be disappointed that his name isn't mentioned enough with the season that he's having.
"But Ollie Watkins knows what he can do. He knows when he catches fire, he knows when he's scoring goals, he deserves to be in that England squad."
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