Brugge had to make a positive start to try and reduce their 3-1 deficit from the first-leg last week and captain Hans Vanaken almost capped his 50th UCL appearance with an early opener as his glancing header bounced inches wide of the post.
However, the Blue-Black’s chances of ending their 14-match winless run on English soil became infinitely harder when Marcus Rashford burst past Kyriani Sabbe and drew a foul from the last man defender, who was sent off after just 17 minutes.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Brugge continued to generate the better chances as they tried to stage the most unlikely of comebacks and Chemsdine Talbi’s well-hit strike was heading towards the top corner before Emiliano Martínez’s intervention.
Villa were seemingly content to try and dictate the tempo and protect their aggregate lead, but Rashford went close last in the first-half with a low strike from close range into the side-netting.
Unai Emery introduced Marco Asensio and Leon Bailey after HT and it took just five minutes for the substitutes to combine. Bailey’s dinked through ball into the area fell perfectly for Asensio to lash his sixth goal in five matches into the roof of the net.
In a blistering 15 minutes to start the second half, Villa added another two goals to put the tie firmly beyond the visitors’ reach.
Ian Maatsen first converted from Morgan Rogers’ cutback before Asensio netted his third brace since joining Villa from PSG in January after he tapped in from Rashford’s low cross.
Villa’s reward for a commanding 6-1 aggregate victory is a tantalising UCL quarter-final clash against Paris Saint-Germain and confidence is building for the Midlands outfit, who have won four consecutive games for the first time since the start of the season.
Ultimately, Brugge’s slim chances of reaching a first-ever UCL quarter-final ended with Sabbe’s early sending off as Nicky Hayen’s team suffered back to back European losses for the first-time this season.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Marco Asensio (Aston Villa)
