Ollie Watkins helped Aston Villa beat Celtic to reach the last 16 of the Champions League – just hours after Arsenal’s approach for the England striker was made public.
The forward struck to decisively restore Villa’s lead after they had blown an early 2-0 advantage.
Team-mate Morgan Rogers had done the early damage and went on to complete a hat-trick in the victory over the Scottish champions, who now face a daunting task against Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the play-off round.
Watkins’ goal came following the Gunners’ surprise approach for him this week.
It seemingly did not faze the boyhood Arsenal fan, who started and set up Rogers for the second goal of his early double.
Watkins also won and missed a second-half penalty, slipping badly as he went to strike the ball from the spot.
Villa have no intention of letting the 29-year-old England striker leave, especially now qualification for the knockout stage is assured, with Unai Emery’s side finishing eighth in the table.
Celtic, who finish 21st, have it all to do to reach the last 16 and will need to defend better against their heavyweight opposition in the play-offs having gone 2-0 down after only five minutes at Villa Park.
Rogers’ first two goals gave the hosts a comfortable lead, only for Adam Idah’s own quickfire double to level before half-time.
Watkins had been denied by Alistair Johnston’s goalline clearance which would have put the hosts 3-0 up before Celtic roared back.
Idah hooked in from close range and then pounced on Reo Hatate’s pass to stun Villa Park.
But the hosts recovered after the restart with Watkins restoring their lead after an hour before his bungled penalty four minutes later, slipping to balloon the spot-kick high and wide.
Rogers tapped in his third goal in injury time after another defensive mess for Celtic.
Watkins shows maturity in transfer glare
Ollie Watkins gave his shirt to a young Aston Villa fan in the Trinity Road stand as he walked off at full-time.
It certainly could not be interpreted as a goodbye as the striker is at home at Villa Park and the club have no desire to sell him.
He has grown with Villa, helping them to reach Europe, qualifying for the Europa Conference League in 2023, and now making the last 16 of the Champions League.
Morgan Rogers’ hat-trick showed the quality of the forward who has developed so well after joining from Middlesbrough last year.
Yet the spotlight was firmly on Watkins following Arsenal’s approach.
There is a natural assumption he would be tempted by any prospect of a move, given he supported them as a boy.
But Watkins has proved throughout his career he is laser-focused on his game and there were no signs of distraction at Villa Park.
The unfortunate slip which robbed him of a second goal was a rare misstep, purely bad luck.
