Aston Villa will take a 3-1 advantage into the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie against Bologna following a hard-fought victory in Italy.

After surviving a string of Bologna attacks, Villa led through a header from Ezri Konsa, which came against the run of play in the dying seconds of the first half, before Ollie Watkins doubled their advantage six minutes into the second.

Bologna's English attacker Jonathan Rowe struck with a brilliant curling effort past Emiliano Martinez in the 90th minute before Watkins scored from a corner in injury time to restore their two-goal advantage before the return fixture.

But Unai Emery's side were handed two huge reprieves in the first half as they struggled to find a foothold at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.

Rowe was a lively presence on the left wing for the home side and fed Santiago Castro, who saw his effort take a deflection off Konsa on its way into the goal - despite an attempt from Matty Cash to clear it off the line.

The Serie A side's 28th-minute opener, however, did not stand, disallowed for a tight offside on Castro after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Two minute's later, Scotland's Lewis Ferguson's shot hit the crossbar after Rowe's cross.

But the Premier League side struck in the 44th minute from a rare corner kick as defender Konsa headed in at the far post with Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia failing to collect Youri Tielemans' delivery after coming off the line.

Watkins then pounced on a mistake by Torbjorn Heggem and finished through the legs of Ravaglia to pull his side further ahead in the 51st minute.

Rowe reduced the deficit in the closing stages to give Bologna hope, which was dashed immediately by Watkins' second in the 95th minute as the 1982 European champions took a big step towards a place in the semi-finals.

Standing tall at Bologna's home ground is La Torre di Maratona - the Tower of Marathon - which was built to symbolise the resilience of athletes.

And Villa were forced to embody that spirit as they produced a performance full of grit, discipline and resolve to gain the advantage.

It had been 18 days since Villa last played competitive football, a 2-0 win against West Ham on 22 March before the Premier League took a break for international football.

And it showed as Martinez had to save his side's blushes by denying an acrobatic effort from left-back Juan Miranda before Castro and Scotland attacking midfielder Ferguson also went close for the Italians.

But appearing in their third European quarter-final in as many seasons, Emery's men overcame a lethargic start to stamp their authority on the tie as a clinical display helped them go 2-0 up.

Coppa Italia holders Bologna threatened to mount a comeback with Bernardeschi brushing the outside of the post in the 78th minute before Rowe claimed a deserved goal.

But Watkins struck a devastating blow on the Italians late on, meaning Vincenzo Italiano's side will feel hard done by after generating 19 shots - compared to Villa's eight - and striking the woodwork twice.

It was Villa's eighth consecutive victory in the competition under four-time Europa League winner Emery and moves them another step closer to ending a 30-year trophy drought, which would also mean a return to the Champions League next season.

They will now feel confident of finishing the job in the return leg in Birmingham, where they have defeated the Rossoblu twice already over the past 18 months - a 2-0 in last season's Champions League and then 1-0 earlier this campaign.

Aston Villa will next be in Premier League action on Sunday (14:00 BST) when they travel to Nottingham Forest before the Europa League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park on Thursday, 16 April (20:00).

Bologna, meanwhile, will face a struggling Lecce side in Serie A on Sunday (17:00) before their trip to England.