Aston Villa defeated Lille 2-1 in the Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring for the English side in the 13th minute.
Emiliano Martinez made several saves to keep the score at 1-0. Bafodé Diakité scored a late equalizer for the French. The second leg will take place next Thursday at Pierre-Mauroy stadium. The French will be hoping to qualify for the Europa League semi-finals for the first time in their history. The return leg takes place at Villa Park in London on February 14. The first leg will be played on February 16. The other leg will taken place at the Macron Stadium in Paris on February 19. The winner will qualify for Europe's top club competition for the next five years. The final will be held in Paris in May 2015, at the Parc des Princes. The match will be shown live on BT Sport 1 and BT Sport 2. For more information, visit www.btsport.com.