Ollie Watkins missed out on a golden opportunity to double Aston Villa’s lead against Celtic, leaving fans in shock with his bizarre penalty miss.
Celtic pegged Villa back after the English side surged into a 2-0 lead, and it was Watkins’ goal on the hour-mark that made the difference, restoring the Villans’ lead and helping send them through to the last-16.
But the Englishman — who is currently being chased by Arsenal — later baffled fans with a terrible penalty miss, slipping and completely fumbling the shot on 66 minutes.
What The Fans Are Saying
@riaztbh reacted to the miss on X, writing: “ARSENAL NUMBER 9!!”
In response, @Johannesenkane wrote: “He ain’t joining”.
Another fan, @Liam__whu wrote sarcastically: “World class penalty from Ollie Watkins”.
Another user, @_ogybear, wrote: “This and they’re selling Duran. Villa future ain’t looking good”.
@Arsenal_rep1 said: “Ollie Watkins transfer fee has dropped by 20m”.
Ultimately a hat-trick from Morgan Rogers spared Watkins’ blushes and fired Villa through to the last-16 with an eighth-place finish in the league phase of the competition.
Given his calibre, it’s unlikely Watkins will dwell on his penalty miss for too long, particularly considering the crucial matches his team have lined up over the next few weeks.
Did You Know?
Watkins’ status as Emery’s first-choice striker looks set to be strengthened at the end of the January transfer window with Jhon Duran set for a medical on Thursday ahead of a big-money move to Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Nassr, where he’ll link up with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sadio Mane.
That shock transfer could leave Arsenal’s move for Watkins dead in the water.
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Villa’s 4-2 victory over Celtic is an absolutely huge result; it means the West Midlands club qualify for the knockout stages of Europe’s premier cup competition for the first time since 1982-83.
With the league phase play-offs yet to be played, it’s unclear who Villa will face in the next round, but they’ll be delighted their name is in the hat.
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