Aston Villa 4-0 Forest (Agg 4-1): McGinn and Watkins fire Villa into Europa League Final
Aston Villa roared into their first major European final in 44 years as they emphatically dismantled Nottingham Forest 4-0 at a jubilant Villa Park to overturn a first-leg deficit.
Trailing 1-0 from the reverse fixture at the City Ground, Unai Emery’s side delivered a masterclass in clinical knockout football, securing a 4-1 aggregate victory and a date with SC Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May. The comeback began in the 36th minute when Ollie Watkins—playing with a bandaged head following an early clash—levelled the aggregate score. He tapped home from close range after Emi Buendía had slalomed through the Forest defence in a sequence that ignited the 43,000-strong crowd, including the Prince of Wales.
The momentum shifted entirely after the break when Nikola Milenković was judged to have pulled down Pau Torres in the box. Following a VAR review, Buendía stepped up in the 58th minute to lash the resulting penalty past Stefan Ortega, putting Villa ahead in the tie for the first time.
As Forest pushed forward in search of a lifeline, they were ruthlessly picked apart. Captain John McGinn effectively ended the contest in the 77th minute, arrowing a low finish into the corner. The Scotland international then added a fourth just three minutes later, arriving late to convert and becoming the first Villa player to score twice in a European semi-final.
For Forest, who were missing the creative spark of the injured Morgan Gibbs-White, a promising European campaign ended in a whimper. For Villa and their specialist manager Emery—a four-time winner of this competition—the dream of a first major trophy since 1996 is now just one game away.
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Lineups
Aston Villa: Martinez; Cash, Konsa, Torres, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans, Lindelof (Bogarde 74′), Rogers; Buendia (Sancho 86′), Watkins (Mings 89′).
Nottingham Forest: Ortega; Williams, Milenkovic, Morato (Murillo 72′), Jair (Sinclair 88′); Dominguez, Yates (McAtee 45′), Anderson; Hutchinson, Jesus, Wood (Lucca 71′).
