In the end, it was a rout, Aston Villa sailing into their first European final since 1982. There were fist pumps from Prince William high in the Trinity Road Stand after Emiliano Buendía’s penalty approaching the hour put Villa in command of the tie and then pure delirium as John McGinn buried two near-identical first-time finishes inside three minutes to kill the game.
In between serenading Unai Emery, who is hunting a record fifth Europa League title, and drinking in the celebrations, Villa supporters could think about booking flights to Istanbul, where Villa will face Freiburg in search of their first trophy since lifting the League Cup in 1996.
As Vítor Pereira had acknowledged, Emery is the undisputed king of the Europa League and Villa will be heavy favourites in Turkey against a team seventh in the Bundesliga. “You can start packing your bags, start looking for your tickets,” was the message from the giddy stadium announcer on what descended into a rather surreal night, an emotional McGinn wearing a look of disbelief as he charged off after adding Villa’s third, the cue for the stewards to line the pitch. McGinn’s second and Villa’s fourth prompted the away end to empty.
For a depleted Nottingham Forest, probably safe in the Premier League after an extraordinary spring, defeat extinguished Evangelos Marinakis’s pre-season hopes of silverware and represented a hard stop to their 10-game unbeaten run. Forest, without Morgan Gibbs-White, were deflated when Villa seized lead through Ollie Watkins and flattened when Buendía slotted his spot-kick past Stefan Ortega.
The onus was on Villa to attack Forest given they trailed from the first leg owing to Chris Wood’s penalty. There was a call to arms of sorts from Emery, claret and blue flags on every seat in the home end, and the volume at Villa Park was turned up to 11, in sharp contrast from Sunday’s insipid defeat by Tottenham. Suddenly, and understandably, all was forgotten. There was a supercharged atmosphere fit for the occasion between grand old clubs fighting to reach a European showpiece.
A little needle was a given. Emiliano Martínez, who perhaps perennially will enjoy the role of pantomime villain, shoved Ortega as Forest’s team huddle took place in front of the away end but inside Villa’s half. On the pitch Elliot Anderson, who Emery was adamant should have been sent off for a poor challenge on Watkins in the reverse fixture, exchanged words with Morgan Rogers after the pair clashed. Moises de Hoyo, Villa’s fitness coach, voiced his anger and earned a booking from the Swedish referee, Glenn Nyberg. Nicolás Domínguez made a hasty challenge on Buendía and then Morato was booked for a rash challenge on Rogers.
Villa’s front-foot display was rewarded on 35 minutes when Watkins converted Buendía’s squared pass. The goal stemmed from a communication mixup between Nikola Milenkovic and Ortega. Jair Cunha hoofed the ball upfield and Youri Tielemans kickstarted the move. Buendía’s dancing feet bamboozled Forest, the Argentinian wriggling between Anderson and Jair Cunha, and then he looked into the box and spied Watkins, who side-footed home. Villa had lift-off.
Pereira, who spent much of the game perched on a drinks box in the away technical area, recognised his side required a dose of Villa’s energy and who better to provide it than Ryan Yates? Yates, who joined Forest as an eight-year-old and is Forest’s answer to Villa’s all-action captain, McGinn, got to work.
Forest, though, failed to regain their composure and when Milenkovic got hands-on in the box with Pau Torres, he always risked being punished. Milenkovic got to grips with the No 14 on Torres’s shirt after Buendía crossed for the defender. In truth, Torres made a mess of trapping the ball but, like Lucas Digne last week, there was no room to hide. The locals cheered when the referee was sent to the pitch side video assistant referee monitor and then Nyberg pointed to the spot. Ortega dived to his right but Buendía’s crisp penalty zipped beyond him and into the corner.
For a split-second, Villa thought they added a third on the hour when Watkins slotted past Ortega, but Rogers was plainly offside in the buildup. It was an unmarked McGinn who wasted a chance to make it 3-0 when side-footing a tame effort at Ortega from close to the penalty spot and Villa’s skipper knew it, twisting away from the scene in visible frustration. Buendía poked an effort wide.
Would Forest rouse? They failed to test Martínez and finished with a total of just eight touches in the opposition box. Villa took the initiative to wrap up the game, McGinn placing two shots past Ortega in quick succession. “Four-nil on yer big day out,” crooned the home support as the final whistle loomed.
