Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (4-1 aggregate): Olly Watkins, Emi Buendia and John McGinn were enough to send the Villans all the way to Istanbul.
Aston Villa beat Nottingham Forest to advance to Europa League final (Image: AP)
Aston Villa put in a performance worthy of sending the future champions into the Europa League final.
Goals from Olly Watkins, Emi Buendia and John McGinn helped Villa break the hearts of Nottingham Forest, with Prince William’s goal celebrating in the stands at Villa Park.
And the royal appointment means Unai Emery’s side will head to a high-profile final against Freiburg in Istanbul on May 20, hoping to win their first silver medal since 1996.
This was the seventh all-English European semi-final in history. And it felt like more than just neighbors meeting each other in Midland. The stakes for both teams were immense.
Neither had played in a European final for more than 40 years. It was back in the late 1970s and early 80s, when Forest (twice) and then Villa won the European Cup in succession.
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Now Villa and Forest have the chance to climb to the same heights again, keeping their hopes alive of winning the competition and qualifying for the Champions League.
No wonder Emery used his program notes to deliver a short but powerful message.
“We all know what must be done. It will always be remembered by future generations. There is no need to say more,” he said. He sounded like a man with the sun hanging heavy on his neck from 30 years of winning trophies at the club.
And that meant that even though a confident Forest headed to Villa Park with a 1-0 lead and a 10-game unbeaten record, it was the home side who were under the most pressure.
But Villa at least received a boost from the news that Morgan Gibbs-White will start on the bench after suffering a severe head injury suffered in last weekend’s game against Chelsea.
John McGinn scores twice for Villa (Image: Getty Images)
It was fast and intense from the beginning. Ezri Konsa was unable to convert McGinn’s free-kick and Emery was sent back to the penalty area by referee Glenn Nyberg within the first 10 minutes.
Omari Hutchinson curled a shot wide of the target and Stefan Ortega did well to turn over a header from Pau Torres on the opposite flank. Later, Morato was booked for a heavy tackle on Morgan Rogers after Ortega denied Buendia.
At times it felt more like a game of pinball than football. Forest were unable to gain a foothold in the game, but still maintained a narrow lead.
That was until 10 minutes before the break when Buendia ducked to the line and picked out Watkins for the easiest tap-in. It was nothing more than the villa deserved
It was his seventh goal in his last nine games and Villa’s dominance continued soon after and they almost took the lead.
Forest were yet to have a single shot on target, but there didn’t seem to be a plan B for Vitor Pereira. Rodgers missed a chance to make it 2-1, but it felt like the hosts had scored their second goal.
Prince William celebrating in the stands (Image: Getty Images)
Ortega’s goal pressure was relentless. And it paid off just before the hour when Nikola Milenkovic brought down Torres and conceded a penalty. Buendia stepped up to keep his cool and beat Orjeta to put Villa ahead.
Villa Park were rocking and so were Forest. Visitors had to respond. However, Villa smelled blood and Watkins’ goal was ruled out for offside, and McGinn saw another shot well saved by Ortega.
But the Scot was not to be ruled out, scoring two sumptuous finishes in just three minutes to send Forest out of action and Villa to Istanbul, where they will face German side Freiburg.
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