Aston Villa defeated Nottingham Forest 4-0, advancing to their first European final in 44 years with a 4-1 aggregate score. They will face SC Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League final.
Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest: McGinn masterclass sends Villans to first European final in 44 years
Aston Villa thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg at Villa Park on Thursday evening.
They qualified 4-1 on aggregate and will now face SC Freiburg in the final.
Stefan Ortega produced the game’s first save, tipping Pau Torres’ header over. Youri Tielemans then headed wide from a corner.
Ollie Watkins gave the Villans the lead in the 36th minute, combining with Emi Buendia to turn the ball home.
Shortly after, the English forward nearly doubled Villa’s advantage, but his curling effort was pushed away by Ortega.
Four minutes after the restart, John McGinn delivered a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but the arriving Morgan Rogers failed to connect.
Aston Villa won 4-0 against Nottingham Forest in the UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg, securing a 4-1 aggregate victory.
Aston Villa's last European final was 44 years ago, making this their first return to such a stage since then.
Aston Villa will face SC Freiburg in the UEFA Europa League final.
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Villa were awarded a penalty after Torres was fouled in the area and Buendia converted from the spot, doubling the hosts’ lead.
Rogers thought he had scored Villa’s third on the hour mark, only for his goal to be ruled out for offside.
The hosts showed no sign of relenting as the ball fell kindly for McGinn whose first-time shot was saved by Ortega.
Forest were not ready to give up and created an opening from a counter-attack. Hutchinson whipped a cross to the far post, but Igor Jesus steered his header wide.
Chris Wood squandered a good opportunity to pull one back for the visitors after being put through on goal, but Emi Martinez quickly came off his line to deny him.
McGinn made it 3-0 in the 77th minute, finding the far corner with a brilliant first-time finish.
Three minutes later, the Scot completed the scoring, sending Villa to their first European final in 44 years.