Aston Villa 4 Celtic 2: Prince William goes through rollercoaster of emotions as Morgan Rogers bags stunning hat-trick

THIS was a night Ollie Watkins will never forget as he took centre stage before kick-off — and was the main attraction for most of a thrilling evening.

Striker Watkins hit his first-ever Champions League goal hours after it emerged he was the subject of a £60million bid from boyhood club and Prem rivals Arsenal.

Watkins 🤝 Rogers

Rogers gets his hattrick to make it 4 goals for Villa 🔥

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Ollie Watkins gets his first Champions League goal and what a goal it is 🤩

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Clearly, the Aston Villa star would have known all about the big-money offer before Monday’s transfer deadline — but it certainly did not look as if it affected him.

He finally put Celtic to the sword on the hour following the Scots’ heroic fightback from 2-0 down after just five minutes. Watkins’ goal was ­worthy of winning a tie of this ­calibre — quick, with brilliant teamwork, culminating in a clinical finish.

Morgan Rogers, outstanding all night, rolled Liam Scales in the middle of the park and played in sub John McGinn.

The little dynamo shrugged off Arne Engels and went scampering deep into Celtic territory before releasing Jacob Ramsey on the right.

He swept the ball across the face of goal and there was Watkins lurking like the predator he is to slam it past Kasper Schmeichel. The fact he then patted the Villa badge on his chest will be taken as proof by fans that Arsenal can forget about landing their transfer target.

But he was not finished there.

Three minutes later, Schmeichel fluffed a clearance to McGinn, who fed Watkins with the goal at his mercy.

But despite getting his shot on target, he was denied by a fabulous save from Schmeichel.

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You could not write this!

Watkins has SLIPPED on the spot 😱

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Then, with Celtic on the ropes, Watkins was given the chance to finally finish them off one minute later — from the penalty spot.

Auston Trusty slid in to try to dispossess Watkins, who toppled to the turf. French ref Clement Turpin pointed to the spot to Celtic’s disgust.

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Game on 👊

Adam Idah scores for Celtic to close the gap 👏

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VAR agreed with the ref and Watkins stepped up to . . . take the worst penalty of his career!

Incredibly, he slipped just before making contact and the ball came off his right boot, on to his standing left foot and flew high over the bar into the Holte End.

But Watkins finally put this incredible tie to bed a minute into stoppage time to set up Rogers for a sensational, never-to-be-forgotten hat-trick.

Watkins chased down 21-year-old Celtic kid Dane Murray and rounded Schmeichel before letting Rogers complete his stunning treble.

For once, Celtic had no response — and the biggest roar of the night came as the players headed to the tunnel when it was confirmed Villa had made it into the top eight to reach the last 16 of the competition.

But, boy, were they made to work for it on a rollercoaster of a night.

This was Brendan Rodgers’ 100th European tie as a manager. But rarely will his emotions have gone through the wringer as they were here.

When the dust had settled, these famous clubs — both former champions of Europe — had added another thrilling chapter to their histories.

Rodgers and Villa boss Unai Emery had both made a point in their pre-match press conferences of saying they did not want a basketball match — with play raging from end to end.

Yet their players clearly never got the memo because that is precisely what they served up for 90 gut-churning, heart-pumping minutes in front of a frenzied full house.

It took just three minutes for the mayhem to begin as Villa stormed ahead with the first proper attack of the game.

Ramsey worked a brilliant one-two with Youri Tielemans, who got round the back of Alistair Johnson and pulled it back for Rogers to rifle in his first Champions League goal.

Then, 33 seconds after the restart, Rogers helped himself to another with a cracking shot which flew past Schmeichel with the help of a ­deflection off Scales.

Celtic had buckled in embarrassing fashion as Rogers became the first player in Champions League history to score twice in the opening five minutes of a game. But the Hoops roared back to draw level before half-time thanks to a rapid double from Adam Idah.

He pulled one back after 36 minutes when Greg Taylor ran off Leon Bailey to centre the ball.

McGinn slid in to try to intercept but only knocked the ball into the path of Idah, who twisted his body brilliantly to apply a stunning finish. Three minutes later, the former Norwich man sent Celtic’s travelling support wild when he equalised.

Engels produced a fabulous backheel to Reo Hatate, who drilled the ball across the face of goal to Idah who slammed it beyond Emi Martinez.

Yet Villa regrouped at the break and were dominant in the second half to seize their place in the last 16.

Rogers beamed: “Definitely the highlight of my career so far. It’s a crazy experience and a crazy game to be a part of. It’s a massive achievement and we should be proud of ourselves.

“We had to dig deep, we know we can, we do it in the Premier League every week.”

Bhoys boss Rodgers said: “The word that screams at me is pride. Spirit was absolutely key.”