Aston Villa is surprisingly on the verge of elimination after the 2-4 home defeat in the semi-final first leg of the Europa Conference League against Olympiacos Piraeus. In the second semi-final, AC Fiorentina put themselves in a good position for the second leg with a 3-2 win against FC Brugge.
Aston Villa, fourth in the Premier League and on course for the Champions League, lost 2:4 (1:2) in the semi-final first leg in front of their home crowd against Olympiacos Piraeus. Three-packer Ayoub El Kaabi (16th/29th/56th, hand penalty) played a large part in the Greeks’ success, and Santiago Hezze also scored (67th).
El Kaabi shocks Villa with a three-pack
Ollie Watkins (45th + 1) and former Leverkusen player Moussa Diaby (52nd) equalized for the hosts. Douglas Luiz missed the chance to score shortly before the end when he missed a penalty kick (84′).
Nzola scores the winning goal for Florence in stoppage time
In the second semi-final, AC Fiorentina achieved a 3-2 victory against FC Brugge – thanks to a late goal from M’Bala Nzola in the first minute of stoppage time, they beat FC Brugge 3-2 (2-1). Riccardo Sottil (5th) and Andrea Belotti (37th) were also successful for the hosts.
Hans Vanaken with a hand penalty (17th) and Igor Thiago (63rd) each scored to equalize for the guests from Belgium, who were outnumbered after the yellow-red card for Raphael Onyedika (61st).
