Perhaps expecting an early onslaught from their team after a goalless first leg, the Aston Villa fans roared their team on in the opening exchanges, but the Dutch visitors looked organised and nullified the early threat as they settled into the game.
The first opportunity arrived midway through the half when Leon Bailey found space in the area to move the ball onto his left foot, but he couldn’t get enough precision on the finish as it curled a yard wide of the post.
That chance sparked a period of pressure from Villa, and they found the opener shortly after when Ollie Watkins was left unmarked from Douglas Luiz’s corner and the Englishman looped a fine header into the far corner.
Despite offering little in attack, Ajax almost snatched an equaliser just before HT, but Matty Cash was on hand to divert Brian Brobbey’s goalbound effort away on the line.
The break appeared to halt Villa’s dominance in the game as the visitors came out with a renewed belief and showed some attacking intent to get back into the tie. Despite that pressure, Ajax couldn’t capitalise and Bailey made it 2-0 just before the hour mark.
The visitors were sloppy in possession in their own half and the ball was played into the Jamaican forward who created space on his weaker right foot before slipping it past Diant Ramaj with a composed finish.
Already facing an uphill battle, it got even worse for Ajax minutes later when Sivert Mannsverk was shown a second yellow card for a shirt pull on Jhon Durán.
The Colombian forward had been a handful after coming on for Watkins, and he finally got the goal his work-rate deserved as his shot had so much power it hit the underside of the bar and bounced back up onto the woodwork for a second time, but the goalline technology showed the ball crossed the line.
Further gloss was applied to the scoreline with ten minutes to go when Moussa Diaby raced clear before lifting the ball high into the net to make it 4-0.
On top of advancing to the quarter-finals, this is also a welcome victory for Unai Emery’s men after Aston Villa tasted defeat in four of their last five home games.
At the same time, Ajax’s hopes of silverware now appear to be over after their dismal season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Leon Bailey (Aston Villa)
