The finishing line was coming into view as Aston Villa rounded the bend into April.
Unai Emery’s side faced a busy schedule, with seven matches that would help to define their season in Europe and at home.
April got off to a tough start with a visit to title challengers Manchester City, who hadn’t lost since their 1-0 defeat at Villa Park in December, ending in a 4-1 loss.
A dramatic six-goal thriller at home to Brentford followed as Villa picked up their first point of the month via a 3-3 draw.
A 2-0 lead was wiped out in the space of nine second-half minutes before Ollie Watkins netted his second of the game to deny his former side the win.
Villa Park was lit up for a Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg against LOSC Lille four days later as the hosts edged a hard-fought contest 2-1 thanks to goals from Watkins and John McGinn.
The momentum from that victory spurred Villa on when they journeyed south to face Arsenal at the Emirates, with the away side pulling off an amazing result that dented their opponents’ title charge.
Leon Bailey tapped home the opener after 84 minutes and Watkins kept his cool to wrap up the three points minutes later.
Next up was a trip to France for a night that put Villa fans, players and staff through the full range of emotions.
There was despair and frustration as our aggregate lead slipped away and turned into a deficit, while Matty Cash’s late goal elicited overwhelming relief.
The nerve-jangling drama continued throughout extra-time and into the penalty shootout, where Emi Martínez came up big with two saves to send his side through to the semi-finals.
A hero’s welcome to the game against Bournemouth helped inspire Villa on their return to Premier League action three days later.
After falling behind, the Villans fought back to win 3-1 via strikes from Morgan Rogers, Moussa Diaby and Bailey.
April looked set to end with another victory at Villa Park when the hosts took a two-goal lead against Chelsea, but the Blues hit back in the second half to earn a share of the spoils.
