October 26, (THEWILL) – Aston Villa striker, Ollie Watkins, was in scintillating form as he netted twice to help his side cruise to a commanding 4-1 away victory over AZ Alkmaar in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night. The forward took his season tally to 10 goals in all competitions, with four of those coming in Europe.
Leon Bailey opened the scoring for Villa after just 13 minutes, latching onto a loose pass and firing home emphatically from the edge of the box. Youri Tielemans then doubled the advantage 10 minutes later with his first goal for the club since his summer arrival, slotting home after good work from John McGinn.
After wasting some presentable chances, Alkmaar could not find a way back into the match in the first half. Watkins extended Villa’s lead six minutes after the break, pouncing on the rebound after Leon Bailey’s shot was saved. McGinn then got in on the act himself on 55 minutes, turning in Bailey’s low cross from close range soon after.
Ibrahim Sadiq grabbed a late consolation goal for the hosts, but Villa held on comfortably to make it two 4-1 victories in the space of four days. The result leaves Unai Emery’s men well-placed to progress to the knockout stages of the competition.
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.
