BOURNEMOUTH, England :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.
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.
