Aston Villa are through to the Europa League final after a stunning 4-0 win over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park – 4-1 on aggregate – with John McGinn scoring twice in three minutes to book their place in Istanbul on May 20.
Ollie Watkins gave Villa the lead they needed on 36 minutes, Emiliano Buendia converted a penalty on 58 minutes, and then McGinn put his name in Villa folklore with two goals in quick succession in the final quarter of an hour.
Forest, drained by their Premier League run-in, could not reproduce the competitive edge that had given them a first-leg lead at the City Ground last Thursday.
Buendia: ‘I knew exactly what I wanted to do’
One of the big moments in the game came 13 minutes into the second half when referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez pointed to the spot after a Forest challenge in the box. Emiliano Buendia stepped up with the tie still in the balance and delivered, even admitting afterwards that he did not feel the pressure.
“I took responsibility. It was one of the most decisive penalties for the club in recent years, but I didn’t feel pressure. I felt calm, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”
“We know how difficult these games are. They showed some character in the first leg. We knew in the beginning we needed to start strong. Everyone ran a lot, fought a lot. We showed the whole season how good we can play. The result is amazing and I think we deserve it.
“I think the prestige to win a trophy, with the history this club has, it would be amazing. The fans really want this trophy for us, and we will try. It’s a final. We need to prepare well and keep going in the Premier League as well because we need to finish as high as possible.”
McGinn channels pain of semi-final exits
If Buendia was the calm head in the moment that settled the tie, McGinn was the heart of the whole night. The Scotland captain, who turned 31 last month, scored twice in the space of 183 seconds to finish the job and admit afterwards that this final carries a weight he cannot fully put into words.
“I’m normally quite calm before games, but today I was nervous. Tonight was up with one of the best performances I’ve seen from a Villa team for a long time.
“I wasn’t nervous in terms of the team turning up. We’ve turned up in big games, maybe just not in big semi-finals. The injuries Forest have had maybe helped decide it, but we needed to capitalise – and we did. The atmosphere in here was electric.
“I felt the nerves this morning, but now it’s about embracing it. You see the guys in 1982, the cup winners in the 90s. The club’s been through some massive lows, but such a massive group deserves success. Hopefully we’ll be the ones to bring it.
“The margins in football are so slim. If we lose tonight, we’re the nearly men. When we go to Istanbul, we need to make sure we’re not the nearly men.
“What I said to the lads was they might not get another chance to play in a European final. They don’t come along too often. When you get to 31, it might be the last chance to get to a European final.”
Pereira: ‘It was not possible to compete’
Forest manager Vitor Pereira was devastated but honest in his assessment of what had unfolded over the two legs, pointing to an injury crisis that left him with a threadbare bench and players nowhere near full fitness.
“To compete in a semi-final and against a team like Aston Villa, we need everyone in the conditions to compete. If you look before the game on the bench we had three players, because the other ones were injured. Our bench today – the only solutions we had from the first team was Bakwa, Luca, Murillo, who we tried but he was injured and not in condition, and Yates. This is very short to come here without solutions.
“Aina, out. Morgan [Gibbs-White] out. Sangare, out. Murillo, out. Callum [Hudson-Odoi], out. Ndoye, out. To bring the full squad we put three injured players on the bench and we brought three more players from the academy. To compete in a game in these conditions, after a game against Chelsea, and play in a semi-final is not possible.”
He also questioned the officiating, though stopped himself from using it as a primary explanation for the loss.
“I didn’t see it but I tell you one thing, this referee was a very good referee but not for us. A lot of yellow cards and fouls, a lot of fouls against us and against them they forget. He permitted a lot of the aggressiveness. In the end I don’t want to use an excuse. To resume, today we were not in our level to compete for the semi-final.”
Aston Villa will now face German side Freiburg in the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20, with the chance to win the club’s first European trophy since their European Cup triumph in 1982.
