Aston Villa booked their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League with a dominant aggregate triumph against Club Brugge.
The club’s Belgian opponents put up a fight in the first half before and after Kyriani Sabbe was shown a straight red card for hauling down Marcus Rashford 16 minutes in to the second leg of Wednesday night's last 16 tie.
But the home side, who led 3-1 from the first leg, took control in the second half, taking the lead on the night when half-time substitutes Leon Bailey and Marco Asensio combined for the opening goal, with the latter lashing home five minutes after the restart.
Ian Maatsen scored his first goal for the club to double the lead seven minutes later and Asensio struck again to round off the scoring on another momentous European night at Villa Park.
Villa’s victory made it 16 home matches without defeat and sets up a quarter-final tie against French champions Paris Saint-Germain, which will take place in April.
Unai Emery made five changes from the weekend’s win at Brentford as he looked to guide his team into the last eight, bringing Emi Martínez, Matty Cash, Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara and Rashford into the starting XI.
And the Villans were greeted by a rapturous ovation as anticipation gripped Villa Park ahead of kick-off, with fireworks and a tifo picturing club legends befitting of the occasion.
Brugge, who upset Atalanta in the play-off round, started confidently and saw Hans Vanaken head a cross narrowly wide in the game’s first opening after nine minutes.
However, the away side’s momentum was checked in the 16th minute when last man Sabbe hauled Rashford down just outside the box as the forward attempted to reach Martínez’s ball over the top, with referee Daniel Siebert showing him a straight red.
Youri Tielemans called Simon Mignolet into a save from the resulting set piece before Villa set about pressing home their numerical advantage.
Losing their right-back failed to deter the Belgian champions, who continued to dominate possession without being able to penetrate in the final third.
A first half of few chances saw Rashford fire into the side netting in the closing minutes as the sides went in with the score goalless at the break.
Asensio and Bailey emerged for the second half in place of Ollie Watkins and Kamara, and it took just five minutes for the duo to combine for the opening goal.
Bailey picked up the ball on the edge of the box and teed the Spanish playmaker up with a flicked through ball, watching on as Asensio lashed it past Mignolet first time.
The PSG loanee came agonisingly close to recording his third brace for the club shortly after when he collected Tielemans lofted pass and slotted past the ‘keeper, only for his effort to rebound off the post and into Mignolet’s arms.
Three minutes later the second goal did arrive via the left boot of Maatsen, who was in the right place at the right time to turn home Morgan Rogers’ pull back.
Confidence was flowing through the hosts as they split Brugge open at will, netting their third of the night on 61 minutes when Asensio applied the finishing touch to a driving run and cross from Rashford.
Pau Torres made his return from injury after a three-month absence to add to the positivity sweeping around the stadium, and a fourth goal was nearly added when Tielemans drive was tipped past the post.
Olés rang out from the stands as the home side kept the ball in the closing stages of the game safe in the knowledge that they'd done more than enough to book their place in the quarter-finals.
