Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins flicked in a first-half winner as his side, down to 10 men for the last 10 minutes, beat Bournemouth 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday to boost their hopes of playing in Europe again next season.
Watkins broke the deadlock in the sixth minute of first-half stoppage time, after a VAR check for offside, with the lightest of touches to a Morgan Rogers cross for his 16th goal of the league campaign.
The visitors, who rose to sixth, had Jacob Ramsey sent off for a second yellow card in the 80th to set up a nervous finish at the Vitality Stadium as late-goal specialists Bournemouth finally came to life but could not find an equaliser.
The top five race is going down to the wire 🍿
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 10, 2025
Aston Villa join Chelsea and Nottingham Forest on 63 points 🤜💥🤛#SSPL | #BOUAVL pic.twitter.com/v3zz3vCuFa
Villa are level on 63 points with Newcastle United and Chelsea, fourth and fifth respectively before meeting at St James' Park on Sunday, and two clear of Nottingham Forest, who host Leicester City, in the battle for Champions League places.
Villa have played a game more than all three rivals, who are only two points behind third-placed Manchester City after Pep Guardiola's side dropped points in a 0-0 draw at already-relegated bottom side Southampton earlier on Saturday.
Bournemouth, who stunned second-placed Arsenal 2-1 last weekend and could have moved up to eighth, remain in 10th spot with their outside challenge for Europe running out of steam.
Should Manchester City defeat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final this month, an eighth-place finish would secure qualification for the Conference League.
Watkins' goal was his 75th in the league for Villa, taking him ahead of Gabriel Agbonlahor as the club's all-time top scorer in the Premier League era.
Ollie Watkins breaks the deadlock 🦁🔥
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 10, 2025
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Unai Emery's side, beaten by finalists Paris St Germain in this year's Champions League quarterfinals, had two chances before Watkins' breakthrough, with Marco Asensio hitting the post in the 43rd with an effort that fired up his side.
Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga then had to make a double save from a Boubacar Kamara header and Matty Cash who nodded back the rebound.
Bournemouth, starting with three changes from the Arsenal game, had only one shot on target in a first half with only two more shots than yellow cards (five).
The response to the goal was tame for much of the second half but the hosts came alive after Ramsey walked.
Antoine Semenyo shot wide in the 81st and Evanilson had a header palmed away by Emiliano Martinez.
Semenyo then had an effort cleared off the line by Cash under pressure after a save from Martinez five minutes into stoppage time.