Aston Villa took control of their Europa League quarter-final tie with Bologna, as England stars Ezri Konsa and Ollie Watkins fired Unai Emery's side to a 3-1 first leg win in Italy.

Villa were given a real scare by the Serie A side though, and should have been behind in the first half. Bologna were on a 20-game unbeaten European run at home and playing in their first ever continental quarter-final, their spirit was initially overpowering the Premier League side.

A Konsa own goal from Sanatiago Castro's cross was ruled out by VAR for a very tight offside on the Bologna forward, before the hosts then struck the woodwork through Lewis Ferguson - who turned the excellent Jonathan Rowe's cross onto the bar.

But against the run of play, Villa put themselves into a comfortable scoreline with goals either side of half-time - thanks to some poor Bologna defending.

First, goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia needlessly came out for a Youri Tielemans' corner and failed to get there, allowing Konsa to head home into an empty net.

And it was worse after the break, as a similarly needless cross-field pass out the back was pressed by Emiliano Buendia, and the loose ball broke...