Aston Villa hit four past Nottingham Forest to fly into Europa League showpiece

The atmosphere in the stands buzzed with excitement before the match began, as both teams dreamed of a memorable night, leading to a high-paced start on the field.

Quality chances emerged amid the intensity, with Omari Hutchinson dribbling past Lucas Digne yet curling his attempt just past the post, followed by Stefan Ortega pushing Pau Torres’ header above the bar.

Emiliano Buendia earned a free-kick in a promising position, but the shot was blocked by the Nottingham Forest defence, and Youri Tielemans nodded wide from the resulting corner.

As Aston Villa started to dominate, the commitment of both squads shone through when Ollie Watkins collided heads with Morato.

Shaking it off, Watkins gave his team the lead on the night and drew level in the aggregate just five minutes after the action restarted, receiving a pass from Buendia who had created room before delivering to his forward, who slipped unmarked into the six-yard area for an easy goal.

The Villa forward, now with a bandage, and his teammates kept the momentum going towards half-time, as Watkins unleashed a fierce shot that Ortega managed to divert.

Vitor Pereira brought on team skipper Ryan Yates at the break, who quickly aimed to break up the home sides rhythm.

Nevertheless, Unai Emerys men won a penalty in the 56th minute when Nikola Milenkovic tugged at Torres’ shirt, allowing Buendia to slot it past the diving keeper and give Villa the aggregate advantage for the first time.

Watkins netted once more soon afterwards, only to be ruled offside, while John McGinn directed a shot directly at Ortega as the hosts maintained their strong showing.

The Villa skipper was far sharper on his next chance, though, latching onto Watkins’ pass near the penalty area edge to fire into the far corner and spark wild cheers from the crowd.

Remarkably, McGinn received the ball from Rogers shortly after and aimed for the other side, achieving the same result to round off a superb performance for his team, as Aston Villa halted their run of three defeats in convincing style to reach their second European final in history, facing Freiburg 44 years on from their debut one.

This result also halted Nottingham Forests 10-match unbeaten sequence and eliminated them from the UEL.