Aston Villa will take a 2-1 lead to Lille next week after emerging from their UEFA Europa Conference League first leg with a hard-fought victory at Villa Park, according to Eurosport.

Ollie Watkins was on the scoresheet yet again with a towering header, and captain John McGinn bagged Villa’s second with a curling shot from the edge of the box, with both goals coming from set-pieces.

But Villa did not have it all their own way against an attacking Lille outfit who forced Emiliano Martinez into a string of top saves, and also saw a goal ruled out by VAR for an extremely narrow offside.

And the visitors did finally bag the goal that their efforts deserved, with Bafode Diakite heading home from a corner to make it 2-1 on the night and keep the tie alive going into the second leg.

The winners of this tie will face either Olympiacos or Fenerbahce in the semi-finals, with the Greek side 3-2 up after their home leg of that tie.