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Hibernian 0-5 Aston Villa: Ollie Watkins nets hat-trick in Europa Conference League demolition

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Ollie Watkins’ devastating hat-trick helped ruthless Aston Villa mark their return to European football with a first-leg Europa Conference League play-off demolition of Hibernian.

Hibs hero John McGinn’s Easter Road homecoming dominated much of the pre-match build-up, but England striker Watkins will rightly grab the headlines after a phenomenal display at a sell-out Easter Road.

Following a bright start, the Scottish Premiership side could not deal with their clinical Premier League visitors upping the ante as Watkins glanced in a sublime header before nodding in a second at the back post.

Leon Bailey then powered in a close-range header of his own to put Villa – regarded as tournament favourites by many – in complete control at the break in their first European game in 13 years.

Watkins thought the offside flag had denied him a treble just after the interval, but the VAR reviewed his first-time finish past David Marshall, with Douglas Luiz’s penalty sealing a record-equalling European win for Unai Emery’s side.

Next Thursday’s second leg at Villa Park will be about damage limitation for Hibs and Lee Johnson, who watched his side crumble in his 500th game as a manager after his brave attacking line-up briefly rattled the visitors early on.

In the opposite dugout, four-time Europa League winner Emery took no chances with his XI, including big-money summer signings Pau Torres and Moussa Diaby starting.

But with a boisterous home crowd on top of them, Villa had to weather a short storm from Hibs, which included a weak Martin Boyle volley and an equally tame penalty shout.

But after Watkins planted Lucas Digne’s inch-perfect ball into the far corner, it was about how many Villa wanted.

They got five, but it could have been nearly double had Marshall not denied Bailey with a fine stop before Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa both had headers narrowly miss the target.

Player of the match – Ollie Watkins

Ollie Watkins

Bold Hibs undone by unforgiving Villa – analysis

Hibs fans are not daft. When your side comes up against a club who have spent a reported £80m this summer in comparison to your £1.5m, this result can be expected.

Johnson’s XI was brave, as was his approach, but a goal really had to come in those opening exchanges for Hibs to stand a chance before their energy sapped.

Against this calibre of opponent, defending has to be flawless and attacking has to be clinical. In a nutshell, that is what Villa demonstrated.

Emery said in the build-up to this that he wanted to “write new history” with the 1982 European Cup winners. With the squad at his disposal, and his serial winning mentality at this level, he may well scribe a successful new chapter at Villa Park.

What they said

Hibernian manager Lee Johnson: “First of all, I was proud of the club for getting to this point. I was disappointed with the scoreline. I felt the shape was okay in the first half, but in terms of moments in our control we weren’t good enough.

“The gulf in quality showed after that period in the first 20 minutes. Too many times we gave the ball away, too many times we were offside. That was the lesson for us and we hope we can learn from this.

“There’s huge differences between the budgets and we’re doing well to compete at this level and today is a big lesson for us.”

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery: “We know we really played a high level, and didn’t let them play how they usually play. The end result is maybe not deserved, but we deserved to win, and our respect of them is playing how we played.

“We know they are very good in the transition. We know they have good long balls and crosses. We tried to keep control with the ball, and we did it.

“I am happy, but everything we did was with respect. In this competition, first we have to be in the groups, and second, trying to do something here.”

What’s next?

Both sides return to league action at the weekend before next Thursday’s second leg (20:00 BST) in Birmingham as Hibs host Livingston on Saturday (15:00) and Villa travel to Burnley the following day (14:00).

Line-ups

Hibernian

Formation 4-1-4-1

1Marshall

2Miller5Fish4Hanlon16Stevenson

32Campbell

10Boyle9Vente11Newell21Obita

7Youan

  • 1Marshall
  • 2Miller
  • 5Fish
  • 4HanlonSubstituted forBushiriat 68′minutes
  • 16Stevenson
  • 32CampbellSubstituted forDoyle-Hayesat 69′minutes
  • 10BoyleBooked at 90mins
  • 9VenteSubstituted forDoidgeat 69′minutes
  • 11NewellSubstituted forDelferrièreat 88′minutes
  • 21ObitaSubstituted forJeggoat 45′minutes
  • 7Youan

Substitutes

  • 8Doyle-Hayes
  • 14Jeggo
  • 19Le Fondre
  • 23Doidge
  • 25Boruc
  • 26Harbottle
  • 28Delferrière
  • 33Bushiri
  • 35Molotnikov
  • 40McAllister
  • 42Megwa
  • 44MacIntyre

Aston Villa

Formation 4-2-3-1

1E Martínez

4Konsa3Diego Carlos14P Torres12Digne

44Kamara6Douglas Luiz

31Bailey19Diaby7McGinn

11Watkins

  • 1E MartínezSubstituted forOlsenat 45′minutes
  • 4KonsaSubstituted forCashat 75′minutes
  • 3Diego Carlos
  • 14P Torres
  • 12DigneBooked at 21mins
  • 44KamaraSubstituted forTielemansat 67′minutes
  • 6Douglas Luiz
  • 31BaileySubstituted forDuránat 69′minutes
  • 19Diaby
  • 7McGinn
  • 11WatkinsSubstituted forTraoréat 69′minutes

Substitutes

  • 2Cash
  • 8Tielemans
  • 9Traoré
  • 16Chambers
  • 24Durán
  • 25Olsen
  • 42Marschall
  • 56Revan
  • 59Feeney
Referee:
Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea

Match Stats

Live Text

Post update

Match ends, Hibernian 0, Aston Villa 5.

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