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<\/p>\nOllie Watkins celebrates with Villa teammate Youri Tielemans<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ollie Watkins continued his red-hot form as Aston Villa cruised to a statement 4-1 Europa Conference League win at AZ Alkmaar.<\/p>\n
The striker netted his 10th goal of the season and fourth in Europe this season on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Leon Bailey and Youri Tielemans \u2013 his first for Villa \u2013 put them in control in AZ Stadium after less than 25 minutes.<\/p>\n
Vangelis Pavlidis wasted the hosts\u2019 best chances but Watkins and John McGinn added more goals after the break in Holland before Ibrahim Sadiq grabbed a consolation.<\/p>\n
It was the second time in two games Villa had scored four after their 4-1 Premier League win over West Ham on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Unai Emery celebrated a year in charge on Tuesday and victory underlined the progress his side have made, having been floundering in 14th and three points above the relegation zone 12 months ago.<\/p>\n
Villa host Alkmaar in two weeks knowing victory would see them take a giant leap to the knock-out stages, especially following an opening 3-2 defeat at Legia Warsaw in September.<\/p>\n
After two games in Group E, all four teams were locked on three points but Villa moved to remedy that quickly, opening the scoring just 13 minutes in.<\/p>\n
Watkins seized on a loose pass from Yukinari Sugawara and, while Boubacar Kamara\u2019s ball was cut out, it fell for Bailey to control and rifle in low from the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
Alkmaar cried handball but the goal stood and 10 minutes later, the hosts were 2-0 down.<\/p>\n
Another poor pass, this time from Sven Mijnans, went straight to McGinn and his angled pass found Tielemans to bag his first Villa goal.<\/p>\n
Yet, 90 seconds later, the hosts should have pulled a goal back when Pavlidis fired over with just Emi Martinez to beat after Kamara was dispossessed on the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
Pavlidis had a goal disallowed for offside soon after but Villa regrouped and extended their lead six minutes after the break.<\/p>\n
AZ were picked apart by Watkins, Tielemans and Bailey, who saw his shot saved by Matt Ryan but it fell perfectly for Watkins to tap in the rebound.<\/p>\n
Five minutes later McGinn added a fourth when he turned in Bailey\u2019s low cross at the near post.<\/p>\n
Sadiq pulled a surprise goal back with 25 minutes left when he latched onto Bruno Martins Indi\u2019s crossfield pass and drilled the ball into the corner from the edge of the box.<\/p>\n
Tiago Dantas came close to a second, Tielemans deflecting his drive behind, with a comeback never on the cards.<\/p>\n