Aston Villa produced a stunning second-half display to crush Nottingham Forest 4-0 and advance to the Europa League final. The match at Villa Park saw Emiliano Buendía open the scoring from the penalty spot before John McGinn netted a quickfire double to seal a memorable victory for Unai Emery’s side.
The first half ended goalless, with Villa dominating possession but struggling to break down a resilient Forest defense. The breakthrough came in the 56th minute when a VAR review awarded a penalty after Milenkovic was adjudged to have pulled Pau Torres’ shirt. Buendía stepped up and placed his shot low to the left, beating Ortega despite the goalkeeper diving the right way.
Villa doubled their lead just before the hour mark through McGinn, who collected a looping header from Watkins before slotting home with the inside of his boot. The Scottish midfielder added a third in the 77th minute with a similar move, this time finishing into the far corner from Watkins’ knockdown.
McGinn completed his hat-trick three minutes later, pouncing on another Watkins assist to make it 4-0. Forest had chances of their own, with goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez making several key saves, including a close-range stop from Wood and a crucial intervention on Igor Jesus. However, Villa’s relentless pressure proved too much for the visitors.
There was controversy in the second half when Watkins had a goal ruled out for offside, but the hosts were already in control. Emery made tactical changes late on, introducing Bailey, Douglas Luiz, and Bogarde to see out the win. Forest’s Pereira responded by bringing on Bakwa, Lucca, and Sinclair, but they could not find a way past Martínez.
The result means Aston Villa will now face either Roma or Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final, as they continue their remarkable run under Emery. The home fans celebrated a dominant victory that keeps their European dream alive.
