March 07, (THEWILL)- Aston Villa kept their Europa Conference League quarter-final hopes alive after a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Ajax in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Amsterdam. Despite being second best for large periods, Unai Emery’s side dug deep to leave the Johan Cruijff Arena unscathed.
The Spaniard made several changes to his lineup, with the likes of John McGinn and Leon Bailey dropping to the bench. One of the replacements, Moussa Diaby, went close early on, but was denied by Ajax goalkeeper, Diant Ramaj.
The visitors had goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to thank for an important late save to deny Kenneth Taylor. Ajax, led by former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, enjoyed the better of the chances but lacked a cutting edge in the final third.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men in the closing stages. Ezri Konsa was controversially sent off for Villa after picking up two yellow cards, before Ajax’s Tristan Gooijer quickly followed for a second bookable offence.
With the second leg to come at Villa Park next week, Emery will be confident his side can finish the job on home soil. However, they face a quick turnaround with a crunch English Premier League clash against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday in the race for a top-four finish.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
