Analysis: Watkins revels in 100-goal club as Villa prove title credentials

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Aston Villa did much of the hard work in the first leg where they ran out 3-1 winners in Italy.

Ollie Watkins struck twice - including a decisive goal in 94th minute - to give Villa a firm grip on the quarter-final tie and his timing was impeccable again at Villa Park, opening the scoring early to allay any fears of an improbable Bologna comeback.

Finishing off a slick team move which involved nine Villa players, Watkins became the 11th player to hit 100 goals for the club and the first since Peter McParland in 1962 to reach the milestone.

He also became their outright top scorer in major European competition with 10 goals, overtaking Peter Withe and McGinn.

Since his Villa debut on 15 September 2020, only Mohamed Salah (159) and Erling Haaland (157) have scored more goals than Watkins in all competitions.

With five goals in seven matches now, he did his chances of making it to England's World Cup squad no harm with another clinical display as Villa's main attacking figure as they chase their first major continental honour since winning the European Cup in 1982.

They have barely had to break a sweat in the competition on their way to the last four with an unexpected 2-1 defeat by Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands the only blip in an otherwise spotless campaign.

With seven wins in eight league stage fixtures, they finished level on 21 points with table toppers before overcoming 3-0 on aggregate in the last 16.