Gabriel gudmundsson

Europa Conference League: Aston Villa edged past Lille 2-1 while Liverpool lost 3-0 to Atalanta and West Ham suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa Conference League quarterfinal first legs.

Villa, competing in their first major European last-eight tie for 26 years, will take a one-goal advantage into next week’s second leg in France.

Watkins headed home his 25th goal of the season in the 13th minute to send Villa Park into raptures, before Emi Martínez made three superb first-half saves to preserve the hosts’ lead.