SOCCER: Watkins double inspires Villa victory at Bologna while Forest battle to Porto draw

Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa secured a 3-1 victory away at Bologna, while a Martim Fernandes own goal helped Nottingham Forest earn a 1-1 draw at Porto in the first legs of their Europa League quarter-final ties on Thursday.

Elsewhere, SC Freiburg moved a step closer to the semi-finals with a convincing 3-0 home win over Celta Vigo. Real Betis also remain in the tie after drawing 1-1 away to Braga on Wednesday.

At Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, Villa took the lead just before halftime when Ezri Konsa headed home, giving the visitors a narrow advantage at the break. Watkins then doubled the lead in the 51st minute after capitalizing on a defensive error from Bologna’s Torbjorn Heggem.

Bologna responded late in the match when Jonathan Rowe squeezed a shot into the net from close range to reduce the deficit. However, Watkins struck again deep into stoppage time to restore Villa’s two-goal cushion heading into the second leg.

In Porto, the hosts went ahead in the 11th minute through William Gomes, who finished from a low cross inside the box. Nottingham Forest responded quickly, leveling the score two minutes later after a misplaced backpass from Fernandes rolled past goalkeeper Diogo Costa and into the net as he attempted to recover.

Forest believed they had completed a turnaround just after the hour mark when Igor Jesus converted into an empty net, but the goal was disallowed following a VAR review for a foul on Costa, who had been left on the ground after a heavy collision with the forward.

In Germany, SC Freiburg took control of their tie early against Celta Vigo. Vincenzo Grifo opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a curling effort into the far corner, before Jan-Niklas Beste doubled the lead in the 32nd minute to put the hosts firmly in command.

Matthias Ginter added a third in the 78th minute with a header from a corner, leaving Celta with a difficult task in the second leg.

Real Betis, meanwhile, came from behind to secure a valuable draw in Portugal. Cucho Hernández equalized in the 61st minute from the penalty spot after Florian Grillitsch had given Braga an early lead.

The second-leg fixtures are scheduled for next Thursday. -Reporting by Tommy Lund in GdanskEditing by Christian Radnedge/Reuters