Villa thrash Ajax to progress in Conference League, Olympiacos joy
DPA
·5 min read
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Ollie Watkins netted again to help Aston Villa reach the Conference League last eight following a 4-0 home victory over Ajax Amsterdam on Thursday, while Olympiacos sealed an epic comeback to also go through.
The England striker, named in the latest Three Lions squad for friendlies later this month, headed in a first-half corner for his third of the competition and 22nd of the season. He did however give club and country a scare by limping off injured.
Leon Bailey extended Villa's lead in the second period before Ajax's Sivert Mannsverk was dismissed. Jhon Duran and Moussa Diaby then added the gloss as the 1982 European champions eliminated the Dutch giants following a 0-0 draw in the first leg last week.
Bailey told TNT Sports: "It's an exciting moment for everyone. We should all be proud of where we are. We've worked very hard to be where we are. Enjoy the moment and stay humble and hopefully we can move further."
On Watkins' injury, the Jamaican added: "It looked really bad when I saw it. It was an open wound."
Fiorentina nudged into the quarter-finals of Europe's third-tier competition after a 1-1 home draw with Maccabi Haifa secured a 5-4 aggregate victory.
Antonín Barák headed home in the second half in Florence and Anan Khalaili's goal two minutes from time came too late for the Israelis.
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israel's other side in the competition, led Olympiacos 4-1 heading into the second leg played on neutral turf in Serbia. But the Piraeus side stormed back to level the tie at 5-5 and scored twice more in extra time for a 6-1 away triumph and 7-5 aggregate success.
Fellow Greeks PAOK Salonika were at it too, beating Dinamo Zagreb 5-1 on the night and 5-3 overall in an impressive turnaround, Konstantinos Koulierakis' goal on 72 minutes making the difference for the hosts before Andrija Zivković's penalty.
Lille coasted through after a 1-1 home draw against Sturm Graz following a 3-0 win in the first leg in Austria.
Fenerbahce went through 3-1 on aggregate despite suffering a 1-0 defeat in Istanbul to Saint Gilloise.
Club Brugge secured a 3-0 victory at home to Molde to win 4-2 overall.
Viktoria Plzen against Servette went to penalties after no goals in either leg, but the Czechs eventually prevailed 3-1 in the shoot-out.
The draw for April's open quarter-finals is on Friday.
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