May 3, (THEWILL) – Aston Villa’s European dream hangs in the balance after a deflating 4-2 home loss to Olympiacos in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final tie. Ayoub El Kaabi’s hat-trick proved pivotal as the Greek side finished with a valuable two-goal cushion at Villa Park on Thursday night.
Despite Ollie Watkins temporarily restoring parity before halftime, Villa’s hopes were dented when El Kaabi converted a second-half penalty to complete his treble. Santiago Hezze’s deflected strike further extended Olympiacos’ lead, rendering Boubacar Diaby’s earlier equaliser redundant.
Unai Emery’s men now face an uphill battle in the return leg after surrendering their proud unbeaten home record in European competition this season. Douglas Luiz’s late penalty miss summed up a frustrating night for the hosts, who must overturn the deficit in Greece to keep their European aspirations alive.
With key away goals in their favour, Olympiacos will fancy their chances of reaching the Europa Conference League final. Villa, however, will draw inspiration from their impressive European voyage thus far as they seek to script another memorable continental comeback.
The two sides will reconvene for the decisive second leg in Piraeus on May 11.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
