Aston Villa, England’s last representative in European competitions, suffered a 2-4 home defeat to Olympiacos in the first semi-final match of the Conference League.
Olympiacos started the match better at Villa Park and opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Having avoided offside, Ayub El-Kaabi burst into the penalty area and shot hard into the near corner of the goal — 0:1.
And in the 29th minute, El-Kaabi scored a double. Ayub burst into the penalty area in the center, threw the ball with his head on his move and hit the goal — 0:2.
The impression of an unsuccessful first half for Villa was corrected by Watkins just before the break. Moussa Diaby made a hidden pass into the penalty area on the jerk of Ollie, who shot into touch — 1:2.
The second half began with Diaby equalizing the score by shooting from an acute angle — 2:2.
However, a few minutes later, a penalty was awarded to Villa for the game by the hand of Douglas Luis, and El Kaabi put Olympiacos ahead again — 2:3.
In the 67th minute, the situation of the hosts worsened because Santiago Esse hit Robin Olsen’s goal with a long-range shot with a rebound — 2:4.
At the end of the match, Luis had the opportunity to reduce the difference in the score to a minimum, but Douglas, taking a penalty, hit the post.
The teams will meet in Greece in a week, but with such a defensive game, Villa will find it extremely difficult to count on reaching the finals.
Aston Villa (England) — Olympiacos (Greece) — 2:4 (1:2)
Goals: Watkins 45, Diaby 62 — El Kaabi 16, 29, 56 (pen), Essen 67.
Aston Villa: Olsen, Cash, Consa, Langle, Digne, Luis, McGinn, Bailey (Zagnolo 85), Diaby (Iroegbunam), Rogers (Duran 74), Watkins.