Where next for Aston Villa on this European odyssey? The road to Athens, as is Uefa’s strapline for the Europa Conference League, continues. Their adventure to date has taken them to Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Mostar and Warsaw. For those fortunate enough to savour an electric night under the lights here, the foldout map at the back of the programme handily displayed their potential opponents in Friday’s quarter-final draw. By the end, Villa supporters were the ones singing Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, Ajax’s adopted anthem.
The only sore note was the sight of Ollie Watkins, who opened the scoring, heading down the tunnel after failing to shake off a knee problem, though Unai Emery quickly poured cold water on the initial fears, suggesting the England striker could be fit for Sunday’s Premier League trip to West Ham. Leon Bailey said Watkins’s knee “looked really bad” on first viewing. “It is a cut on his knee,” Emery said. “Maybe for Sunday he could be available.”
Bailey doubled Villa’s advantage courtesy of a cute finish on the hour and the substitute Jhon Durán, who replaced Watkins on 33 minutes, and Moussa Diaby got the third and fourth goals respectively as Ajax capitulated. The tie was in effect over the moment Ajax midfielder Sivert Mannsverk was sent off midway through the second half, at which point the Eredivisie side trailed 2-0. After a jarring defeat by Tottenham last Sunday, Villa bounced back in style.
Emery was not in the business of downplaying the magnitude of this second leg nor the lure of hosting an opponent of Ajax’s heritage, even if this was not a vintage Dutch side. “This is what Villa Park was made for,” the Villa manager said of this collision between former European champions. On the night, however, Ajax were no match for their hosts. “It is painful – we’re used to competing for cups,” said the Ajax defender Devyne Rensch. “It is a real letdown, it’s a disappointment and shouldn’t be happening, we need to move on. We can’t stay down for long.”
Jordan Henderson, who again captained Ajax, was a notable familiar face and the former Middlesbrough forward Chuba Akpom, top scorer in the Championship last season, arrived from the bench towards the end of the first half as Ajax, trailing to Watkins’s header, changed tack. A lull in play before Bailey sized up a first-half free-kick presented the Holte End with a chance to welcome Henderson back to these shores in a game for the first time since leaving Liverpool. Their nod to the England midfielder’s lucrative – and short-lived – spell in the Saudi Pro League was a pithy accusation of greed.
As uncomfortable as Watkins may have been when he limped down the tunnel, his goal gave Villa a welcome cushion. The in-form striker was left clutching his left knee after flying in on the Ajax goalkeeper Diant Ramaj but 10 minutes later he burst towards the front post to meet Douglas Luiz’s corner, sending a powerful header in for his 22nd goal of the season. Ajax struggled to penetrate Villa but came close to a surprise equaliser deep into first-half stoppage time, Matty Cash clearing Brian Brobbey’s effort off the line.
Villa were incensed when a VAR check cleared Jorrel Hato of shoving Durán as the striker took aim at goal. Villa seized on Mannsverk’s wayward pass seconds later and Bailey tricked his way past Hato before slotting in. Durán seemingly does not do anything by half measures. On his second appearance, against Manchester City last season, he walloped the bar and here the 20-year-old went one better with a thunderbolt that clattered in off the bar. Diaby completed the rout with a thumping strike late on.
