Aston Villa finally win but Ollie Watkins' misery continues as awful penalty extends goal drought

A good performance would have been nice, but finally winning a game of football was the primary focus for Aston Villa, who achieved that against Bologna in their Europa League opening fixture.

A first-half strike from Aston Villa captain John McGinn was enough for Unai Emery’s side to earn their first win of the season, but things went from bad to worse for goal-shy Ollie Watkins.

Watkins came off the bench, bereft of confidence and on a nine-game goal drought, and was given the perfect opportunity to open his account for the season when he won a penalty.

It was more Federico Bernardeschi playing a woeful line than Watkins holding his run as he ran through on goal. Thankfully for the England striker, who clearly wasn’t confident enough on the shot, Martin Vitik stormed in and clumsily tripped him. VAR had a look, of course they had a look, but the decision stood.

Deep breath. Pick your side, Ollie. Be confident. No, don’t. Don’t do that. Ah, f**k…he passed it down the middle and the goalkeeper saved it with his legs. F**ks sake, man.

A win for Villa, 18th in the Premier League, could be a turning point for their season, but a penalty miss for Watkins only compounds his struggles.

Minutes later, Santiago Castro struck the bar with a header. It could’ve been so much worse. And again. And again.

Bologna were ferociously knocking on the door in the last 20 minutes. Their press was suffocating at times and their aerial threat was real. Castro’s chance was a sitter, in truth, and Emil Holm missed a big opportunity at the back post from a deep free-kick. And Marco Bizot’s last-ditch acrobatic save was something else.

As they pushed for an equaliser, Watkins’ chances to bounce back and get his long-awaited goal significantly waned, as did Jadon Sancho’s ability to stamp his authority and swagger on the game.

Bologna might have been on top in the closing exchanges, but Villa could’ve gone two goals up had Evann Guessand found a better final ball when passing across the box. There were a couple of chances on the break, but a nerve-calming second never felt like coming.

Ultimately, though, the Italians, who faced Aston Villa at Villa Park in the Champions League last season, couldn’t find an equaliser, and McGinn’s first-half strike was enough.

McGinn’s goal was his fourth from outside the box in three seasons in Europe for Villa, the most by any player in major European competitions since the start of 2023/24. That’s your stat of the night. Cheers, Opta. You rarely let us down.

Now for Villa, it’s about building on their first win of the season, which had the added bonus of a clean sheet, something they haven’t struggled for in 2025/26. That’s two for Bizot in four games, compared with one in three for Emiliano Martinez.

Unai Emery’s side welcome Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday in what now looks like a much more winnable fixture. It was fairly winnable already, but on their day, Fulham are a very handy side. The confidence of knowing they remain capable of winning football matches should help Villa. At home, you don’t exactly fancy the Villans to win, but there aren’t many better fixtures to use as a domestic springboard after a result that should be a turning point in their season.

Given their woeful domestic start, getting a positive result on Thursday was more about setting themselves up in the Premier League than securing three points in the Europa League. Sure, the win is nice, but it becomes almost irrelevant in the grand scheme if they can carry the momentum into Sunday against Fulham.

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