John McGinn’s quickfire second-half double rounded off a stunning Europa League semi-final comeback for Aston Villa, who won the second leg 4-0 to seal a 4-1 aggregate triumph.
Match Report
After losing the first leg 1-0 to a Chris Wood penalty, Villa looked transformed on home soil, with Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Buendia also finding the net in an emphatic victory.
Omari Hutchinson dragged an early effort wide for Forest, but Villa quickly took control, with Stefan Ortega producing saves to deny Pau Torres and Buendia in the opening stages.
Villa levelled the aggregate score in the 36th minute after Forest failed to properly deal with a long ball forward. The hosts capitalised as Buendia skipped past two defenders before squaring for Watkins, who finished from close range.
Ortega denied Watkins again before half-time, though Villa did not move ahead in the tie until the 58th minute.
Following a VAR check, the referee awarded a penalty after Nikola Milenkovic was judged to have pulled back Torres inside the area, and Buendia calmly converted from the spot.
Watkins thought he had added another soon after, but his effort was ruled out for offside after he failed to get back onside before clipping the ball over Ortega.
Wood then saw a low strike comfortably gathered by Emiliano Martinez as Forest searched for a way back, but McGinn crushed those hopes with two goals in three minutes.
Watkins cleverly cushioned the ball into McGinn’s path in the 77th minute, and the Villa captain swept a composed finish into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the box. He then added a second in similar fashion, firing into the opposite corner to send Villa Park into celebration and confirm their place in Istanbul.
Data Debrief: Leading by example
Just 156 seconds separated McGinn’s two goals, with the Villa skipper becoming the first player to score a brace in a major European semi-final for the club.
McGinn was ruthless in front of goal, hitting the target with all three of his attempts and scoring twice from only 0.28 expected goals (xG).
Buendia also made a huge impact. He became the first player to both score and assist in a Europa League semi-final for an English club since Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani achieved the feat for Manchester United against Roma in April 2021.
Meanwhile, Watkins netted his seventh goal at Villa Park in major European competition, equalling Peter Withe’s club record.
The result also marked another semi-final success for Unai Emery, who has now progressed from each of his last 23 two-legged Europa League ties, setting up a final against Freiburg.
