Ollie Watkins is the pride of England following his semi-final winning goal at Euro 2024, a passage of play that Aston Villa fans will be familiar with.
Wednesday night belonged to Ollie Watkins, who made Aston Villa fans proud as he secured England’s spot in the Euro 2024 final.
The striker had to be patient to earn his chance to impress at the tournament, breaking Dutch hearts during his nine-minute cameo in Dortmund.
From the occasion to the timing to the goal itself, it was one for the memory books for Watkins, whose ability to finish the chance wouldn’t have surprised many at Villa Park.
- READ MORE: The astonishing record Aston Villa star Ollie Watkins broke to send England to Euro 2024 final
Ollie Watkins Euro 2024 semi-final goal for England has been seen frequently at Aston Villa
Watkins had four touches of the ball during his time on the pitch, two of which came as part of his superb match-winner.
89:59 was the time on the referee’s watch when the ball crossed the line, sending England into pandemonium with a goal worthy of firing the Three Lions to the final.
It was a top goal by the Villa talisman, who took one touch on the turn before firing the ball low across Bart Verbruggen’s goal.
While the whole country will be raving about the finish, Watkins merely described the sequence of play as his “bread and butter”, saying that it’s his style to run in behind and cause “trouble” for defences.
Watkins is not wrong in his assessment of the match-winner, it was a moment that had been executed in his dreams in an England shirt, but one that has become routine in claret and blue.
Those who watched Villa over the 2023/24 campaign will be able to identify a catalogue of goals that mirrored the sumptuous strike against the Netherlands.
The times at Villa in 2023/24 that Watkins replicated his Euro 2024 goal
Revising the 27 goals that Watkins netted over the 2023/24 calendar, three stand out as showing identical style to his match-winner at Euro 2024.
Rewind to September and the Villa talisman scored the only goal during his side’s win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The 28-year-old scored from an acute angle to win the game, taking just a single touch before generating the power to deceive the goalkeeper.
Now, fast forward to February on another away day in West London, as Watkins scored against Fulham in similar fashion.
Drifting in from the right side of the pitch, the Villa striker took a touch on the turn and finished across goal.
Finally, but not by any means the end of Watkins’ catalogue of impressive goals, came his strike against Olympiacos, where he dragged the defender out to the right and finished first time.
It was an extraordinary moment for Watkins in Dortmund on Wednesday night however, his actions leading up to the goal were simply procedural for Unai Emery’s marksman.
