Watkins shines as Aston Villa overrun Liverpool to secure Champions League place<\/p>\n
Ollie Watkins scored two goals and had another disallowed as Aston Villa set itself up nicely for next week’s Europa League final with a 4-2 win at home against Liverpool on Friday.<\/p>\n
The win also guaranteed Villa a place in next year’s Champions League.<\/p>\n
The win just five days before Villa faces Freiburg in the Europa League decider means Unai Emery’s side ensured a top-five finish in the Premier League.<\/p>\n
“It’s a great performance and a great way to end the season at Villa Park,” captain John McGinn told broadcaster Sky Sports “We’ve just made this club a Champions League club again, and it allows us to be excited and enjoy the game on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Liverpool was three points behind in fifth and still sweating whether it will make it into next year’s Champions League.<\/p>\n
Liverpool had the better of the opening exchanges with Cody Gakpo seeing a goal ruled out for offside and Emiliano Martinez pushing away a swerving long-range effort from Dominik Szoboszlai.<\/p>\n
However, Villa found its composure as the half went on and took the lead three minutes before halftime. Morgan Rogers placed a perfect right-foot shot beyond the reach of Giorgi Mamardashvili after a well-worked corner kick.<\/p>\n
Virgil van Dijk’s header eight minutes into the second half brought Liverpool level but Villa started to dominate as the game opened up. Watkins had a goal chalked off for offside but made up for it just a few minutes later when he took advantage of a slip by Szoboszlai that set Villa free on the counterattack.<\/p>\n
He added a third in the 73rd when he side-footed home from point-blank range after Mamardashvili made two excellent stops.<\/p>\n
It was Watkins’ sixth goal in his last seven league games and he was a constant threat to a Liverpool rearguard that looked shaky every time Villa stormed forward.<\/p>\n
“We’ve conceded far too many games, but we also haven’t scored enough goals,” said Liverpool coach Arne Slot, who admitted his team lacked backbone after going behind in the second half.<\/p>\n
“(After) the 2-1 we crumbled, we struggled. In the end made it 4-2, so they did not give up, but we struggled to control their pace, intensity and quality.”<\/p>\n