Here’s Ben Fisher’s report from Villa Park.
Correction: Emery will be in his sixth Europa League final. Who could forget Baku and Arsenal getting gubbed by Chelsea in 2019?
Ollie Watkins, scorer of that crucial first goal, spoke to TNT: ““In the first leg, we were very passive. They deserved the win, but it was always going to be more difficult at Villa Park. After the performance against Tottenham, everyone’s mind was on this game.”
“There’s no better manager than this to get us prepared for this game and take us into the final. His track record speaks for itself.”
Peter Kurtz gets in touch: “Loved the “McGinn again, begin again” line on the second goal - is that Finnegans Wake? Could have sworn McGinn looked familiar, must have seen something in the papers about him and a cad with a pipe in the Phoenix Park. I kid! It’s been said again and again but how can you not love the man. Could be a guy at the pub but he’s such a phenomenal and steady pro. I hope his career brings us back by a commodious vicus of recirculation past Howth Castle and Environs for years to come.”
Justin Kavanagh gets in touch: “You’re right John, there are few players who are so crucial to their team in European football like John McGinn. Another one like that, alas, is Morgan Gibbs-White.”
Prince William is singing Sweet Caroline, even doing the “so good, so good” bit.
Unai Emery, the Europa League king, has done it again. He can win the trophy for the fifth time.
Full-time: Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (4-1 agg)
Off to Istanbul go Aston Villa. They saved their best for the second leg and Forest had no answer. Villa are in a first European final since 1982, and will face Freiburg.
90+3 min: Time ticks down on a glorious night for Villa.
90+1 min: Villa fans sing of Istanbul to the tune of Kumbaya, My Lord.
90 min: Emery runs down the clock by bringing off McGinn, Torres and Rogers, for Mings, Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz. Four minutes added on. McGinn is hugged by the entire Villa bench; he’s taken them to their objective.
88 min: Breaking: Crystal Palace have reached the Conference League final. Looks like they will be playing Rayo Vallecano; like the Champions League, two clubs from capital cities.
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87 min: Forest are readying Murillo, who was short of fitness, and seems a risk. Pereira has made some odd choices this evening. None of them have paid off. Jimmy Sinclair is coming on too for Forest.
86 min: Villa change: Buendia departs, and on comes Sancho.
85 min: Matty Cash and McGinn keep up the dirty work. Jadon Sancho’s arrival has been delayed by the fourth official not approving of the holes in his socks.
84 min: Fair to say Morgan Gibbs-White won’t be playing. Such sore luck for Forest that he’s not been able to play a part.
82 min: Colin Livingstone gets in touch: “Such an infuriating team Villa - looked last week like they had collectively never seen a football before. Then a force of nature. Been like that all year as well.”
They could land Brentford – or Bournemouth, or Brighton – a Champions League place by finishing sixth.
81 min: That was Rogers who laid up McGinn, and the captain made no mistake. Two brilliant finishes from a brilliant player for Villa. There’s few players who are so crucial to their team in European football.
Goal! Aston Villa 4-0 Nottingham Forest (McGinn, 80)
McGinn again, begin again! What a finish. Villa are heading through.
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79 min: Forest have been soundly beaten, and beat themselves with that defending for McGinn’s goal.
Goal! Aston Villa 3-0 Nottingham Forest (McGinn, 77)
Long ball to Watkins, who is unchallenged and lays up McGinn whose finish is wonderful and has all but guided Villa to Istanbul. They lead 3-1 on aggregate.
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75 min: Freiburg are 3-1 up on Braga, but only 4-3 on aggregate. Can Villa be the team to face them? It takes a Bakwa tackle to stop them getting through.
74 min: Villa change: Lindelof off, Bogarde on. The Swede did his job well. He’s always been a decent footballer if not the most trustworthy defender.
73 min: Martinez climbs high to claim a corner. Forest at least winning more territory.
72 min: Buendia fires wide. Villa chances stacking up; Forest are three at the back, and going direct. Neco Williams is one of the trio.
70 min: Anderson zings in a ball that evades all but is dangerous. Forest changes: Wood, Morato off, Lucca on and Bakwa on, which means a rejig placing Hutchinson at full-back.
69 min: Villa are still in control now. They can’t be too over-confident or fall to a sucker punch….but here’s Wood, saved by Martinez….it was offside in any case but there’s a warning Forest have the capability to come back.
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67 min: Gibbs-White, who looks really bashed up, is sat at the back of the Forest bench. They’re bringing on other players before him.
66 min: Rogers has a dig, Ortega does well but Villa seem far more likely to score the next goal. Forest’s forwards have been negligible, at best.
65 min: Kari Tulinius is bang on here: “Nikola Milenkovic is a veteran defender, who distinguished himself in Serie A and has many, many caps for Serbia. I guess this just goes to show that experience never eliminates the propensity for being a bonehead. Silly boy.”
64 min: Villa have had 13 attempts to Forest’s two. They’ve been so dominant. They have been roared to victory. What a noise. When Villa Park rocks, there’s nowhere louder. The same is true of Edgbaston cricket ground. Must be something about Brum.
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62 min: Morgan Gibbs-White is getting his boots on. He’s ready to risk face and limb for the cause. His team have missed him.
60 min: Watkins has the ball in the net, lovely flick from Rogers but the striker was coming back from an offside position.
59 min: Prince William is giving it limbs. What a night it’s been so far for His Highness and his team. All going to plan. The noise is incredible.
Goal! Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest (Buendia, 58 pen)
Ortega consults his notes, Buendia steps up, and even though the keeper goes the right way, it’s beyond reach. Villa lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
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Penalty to Villa!
56 min: Villa want a penalty. Did Milenkovic pull Pau Torres’s shirt? It certainly looks like it. VAR is being actioned. The ref is going to look, and it’s going to be given.
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53 min: Hutchinson is clattered by Digne, and that brings Pereira off the bench. The ref runs over to issue reprimands.
52 min: Crystal Palace lead Shakhtar 2-1, 5-2 on aggregate; English teams in every European final.
51 min: Yates gets involved again, manhandling Pau Torres and then Buendia again. Buendia reminds the referee that he’s already been fouled twice.
50 min: Yates leaves one on Buendia, doubtless following orders to the letter.
49 min: Can Villa resume their momentum? McGinn blams in a ball, and Rogers attempts a flick. It goes wide. Forest were sat rather dumbfounded there.
47 min: Ryan Yates is shadowing Buendia, a classic man-marker role from his manager. Elliot Anderson, who was quiet in that first half, has been shoved forward and to the left.
46 min: He’s in the stands, the man who would be king, Prince William. Reckon he’s sorted for a ticket in Istanbul?
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The sound of Ozzy’s Crazy Train means we are soon to resume. Forest have made a change; McAtee, who had played OK when in possession, off for Ryan Yates to shore up midfield. Morgan Gibbs-White stays on the bench for now.
Stephen McCrossan is back: “Further to the ongoing ‘gubbed’ debate, Simon McMahon is, of course, correct.
“However, it is also commonly used - in leafy Glasgow - as one of many euphemisms for being drunk (see also ‘blootered’, ‘steaming’, ‘bladdered’ and the classic ‘pished’.)“
Daniel Halladay gets in touch: “After gushing about Johan Manzambi’s abilities during the first leg last week I’m very happy to see him demonstrate those abilities with a tremendous long range effort. Now I suppose I should praise Freiburg keeper Atubolu in hopes that I can manifest an excellent performance from him as well.”
Simon McMahon gets in touch: “Evening John. Gubbed, meaning ‘badly beaten’, has been commonly used up here in Dundee for as long as I can remember. Maybe I’m just used to hearing it as a Dundee United fan. It’s a great word all the same.”
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest (1-1 agg)
Villa have been excellent, Forest have clung on grimly. They will hope that Villa blew themselves out during an all-action half. We’re still on a knife edge. Extra-time and penalties? Don’t bet against it.
45+3 min: Cunha is booked for cropping down Buendia. An old-style reducer.
45+2 min: Justin Kavanagh gets in touch: “Tell Stephen McCrossan that though I feel his pain (re. overused commentators), I’ll gladly take his Ally McCoist in exchange for the utter inanities of our boor du jour here in the States Al(ex)i Lallas. One of several Fox Soccer-related reasons why I’ll be watching the World Cup in Spanish. And by the way, it doesn’t matter where Lindelof plays… he’s usually a postcode or two out of position.”
45 min: Only four minutes added on, despite that lengthy delay. Forest will be glad of that. Big team talk to come from Big Vit in the away dressing room.
44 min: Villa’s midfield is dominating, their players all playing close together, and Lindelof doing a manful job in holding the shape. That gives the others space to sparkle. McGinn, the classic Scottish ball player, has been excellent. Villa just aren’t the same without him.
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42 min: Rayo Vallecano lead Strasbourg 2-0 in the Conference League on aggregate, and so are likely to face Palace in the final.
41 min: What can Forest find? Hutchinson cuts inside past Pau Torres, who slips, but has the luck to fall in front of Hutchinson.
39 min: Good news from Freiburg – if you are a Freiburg fan – they are 2-0 up Braga and now lead on aggregate.
38 min: Villa want more. McGinn sets up Watkins, whose shot is fierce and fisted out to Rogers, whose shot lacks composure.
37 min: That was beautiful skill from Buendia, dragging players to him, and when he takes his time it opens up Forest’s defence. What a noise greeted that goal. Game on!
Goal! Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Watkins, 36)
Villa keep the pressure up, piling forward, Buendia gets to the byline, delays a beat and then slides it across for Watkins to smash in.
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34 min: Tielemans is set up as Villa press the ball clear, Watkins playing him into space but it’s dragged wide. That was a waste; it was Tielemans territory.
32 min: Feels like a while since Forest had an attack but here they come. McAtee’s been very active, and lays up Dominguez after a Chris Wood flick. The ball goes into the Holte End.
30 min: Watkins is stitched up and bandaged, and back playing. Is that wise? It’s a debate that continues. We presume concussion protocol was carried out.
28 min: Alistair McCoist wants that to be a penalty. To be fair to the great man, it did resemble a “Glasgow kiss” but it won’t be given against Morata.
26 min: Another game, another clash of heads. Feels like we see this every week. Watkins and Morato climb, and the Villa striker takes a nasty one. Looks nasty.
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24 min: Good news from Selhurst, to use the commentator’s tick of thinking we should all support every English team in Europe: Crystal Palace are 1-0 up on Shakhtar and now 4-1 up, and on their way to Leipzig.
22 min: Stephen McCrossan gets in touch: “Would it be appropriate to suggest that not everyone shares TNT’s enthusiasm for having Ally ‘I’ll tell you what Fletch’ McCoist co-commentating on what seems like every match?
“I can only presume I’m in the minority here but I find his endless hyperbolic guff extremely wearing. Umpteen variations on ‘I have to say’, ‘I’d suggest to you’ and the inevitable ‘absolutely’ on the way.”
There’s a case to say that Alistair is on rather too much. I used to enjoy him in tandem with Jon Champion in summer tourneys.
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21 min: Buendia goes for it when Digne’s left peg might have been favoured. Villa are playing well, stepping on the gas. From the corner, Tielemans can’t keep his header on target.
20 min: Rogers with the fancy footwork now, his backheel finds Buendia, who is fouled. That sets up a free-kick chance, from a good distance. Nicolas Dominguez commits the offence.
19 min: McGinn sends away Rogers with a backheel,.and Morato can do nothing but accept a yellow card. The resultant free-kick sees Tielemans smash the ball for Matty Cash – always full name – but it slides out of play.
18 min: Villa are pushing the hardest, as you might expect.
Freiburg lead the other tie 1-0 against ten-man Braga, that tie is 2-2.
16 min: Andy Coupe: “Last Forest semi final at Villa Park was a 4-0 win against West Ham, I’m going for the same tonight.”
1991? Remember the Hammers fans that day? Some of them were, er, high on something other than life. Was like a rave in the stands.
14 min: Hasan gets in touch: “I must confess, “gubbed” is a new one for me, and I thought I’d heard them all. I’m from the generation where getting “mullered” was what the cool kids would say - and I thought I was cool enough to join in with the generation after who talked about getting “pwned” but I quicky learnt that wasn’t the case. Now I’m old enough to laugh at it all and say “six seven” to colleagues with unflinching irony - and yet, sadly, I’m still too young to remember the last time my beloved Forest were in a European semi-final. Come on you reds, make a middle aged man happy today.”
I too am too young, though vaguely remember the outrage of 1984 with Anderlecht.
12 min: Villa go close, Pau Torres nodding a corner over, and Ortega tipping over. Both teams at it. Jesus concedes what is a third corner in succession. The next one is a scramble after Ortega’s punch is unconvincing. It’s cleared by Morato.
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11 min: From me old mate, Will Unwin.
The billowing blue flare smoke is providing the aroma around Villa Park. The home players were welcomed with a raucous atmosphere and one the first whistle goes, things will ramp up a notch. There are reminders all round of the 1982 European Cup triumph and the club are desperate to get back to another continental final. Sunday’s defeat to Tottenham brought the ire of many Villa supporters but that will be soon forgotten if they level early on.
For Forest, they will be aiming to keep things quiet for long as possible to boost the angst around the place. Without Morgan Gibbs-White in the starting lineup it will be fascinating to see how James McAtee does in his place from the left. He has a similar style to the club captain but is yet to set things alight in Nottingham. If he can turn it on tonight, he will become an instant legend.
10 min: Close, closest so far. McAtee, standing in for Gibbs-White, plays a lovely pass and Hutchinson smashes just wide. It was flying in, and Dibu Martinez was unlikely to get to it.
8 min: Paedar de Burca gets in touch: “I’m not a fan of either team but I’m from Galway and one of our city’s great football heroes was Eamon “Chick” Deacy, Villa’s supersub back when they were champions of England and Europe in 81/82. There isn’t a footie fan in Galway who doesn’t think of Chick when Villa has a big night. Sadly, he left this world in 2012, aged 53, still playing for his local team West United, scalping the shins off fellas half his age. A true gent who worked in his brother’s fruit and veg shop and got embarrassed if anyone brought up the part he played in knocking the mighty Liverpool team off their perch.”
Villa used what, 14 players all season in 1980-81?
7 min: Boos whenever the Forest players gain possession. Jeers whenever they lose it. These end of season games really do get lifted by the fans. It’s been a long winter. Now to let it all out.
5 min: It’s raucous, it’s ragged. Huge cheers when a tackle flies in.
In the other semi-final, between Braga and Freiburg, the Portuguese team have had a man sent off; Mario Dorgeles. Braga are leading that tie 2-1 at present.
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4 min: Villa have a free-kick, right of the box. McGinn floats one and Konsa is so close to getting a touch. Jair Cunha emergency right-back had a hold, but not enough of a hold.
3 min: Some high pressing from Forest and it almost forces a chance for Igor Jesus. So, where is Lindelof playing? It’s as a holding midfielder, meaning it’s four at the back for Villa.
2 min: Neco Williams has to come across to stop Ollie Watkins. On the sideline, Unai Emery is pensive, not quite in jack in the box mode.
Away we go at Villa Park
1 min: Huge noise as they kick off. Villa take it, and go on the attack, the crowd gets even louder as McGinn sets off on a run. Goal kick to Forest.
There’s a tifo, too, and it seems to be a composite of Unai and his men in a heart, with a lion’s face. Evocative. Better than Bayern’s or Arsenal’s?
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Jeff Beck is pumping out at Villa Park. Very popular in the West Midlands was Hi Ho Silver Lining; Rod Stewart on backing vocals, John Paul Jones on bass. Anyway, let’s rock. Captains John McGinn and Chris Wood lead out their teams.
It’s noisy at Villa Park, very noisy. The team bus got the now requisite pyro welcome. Villa fans have enjoyed their club being back in Europe over the last two seasons.
Emery on Lindelof: “Lindelof is not a goalkeeper.”
Helpful, we’re soon to find out.
We’re still in the dark over where Lindelof will play. Unai Emery was curt with TNT: “McGinn, he is important like every player, he is the captian, his connection with the supporters is massive.We must get out best collectively and best individually, John McGinn is very important in this message.”
More Pereira: “Enjoy the game, compete first minute to last minute, be brave, to try to force our game and in the end we will see.He [Gibbs-White] is here to help us, we will see what happens in the game. They need to be ready, this is a moment of the season we need to help the team, I have confidence in everyone, we can change the players but we keep the spirit.In our mind we come here to compete to win the game.”
Vitor Pereira spoke to TNT about Morgan Gibbs-White: “He’s here to help us. We will see. We will see what happens in the game.”
Is Victor Lindelof to play in a back three or midfield for Villa? John McGinn and Emi Buendia come in with Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne.
Elliot Anderson is back in the Forest starting lineup as one of eight changes from the team that gubbed Chelsea.
The big team news is Morgan Gibbs-White being only ready enough to start the evening on the Forest bench after that horrible cut he received at Stamford Bridge. It required 11 stitches.
The teams
Aston Villa: Martinez, Lindelof, Konsa, Torres, Cash, McGinn, Buendia, Tielemans, Digne, Watkins, Rogers. Subs: Bizot, Wright, Mings, Elliott, Garcia, Abraham, Sancho, Douglas Luiz, Maatsen, Bogarde, Bailey.
Nottm Forest: Ortega, Jair Cunha, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Hutchinson, Dominguez, Anderson, McAtee, Igor Jesus, Wood. Subs: Sels, Willows, Murillo, Sangare, Gibbs-White, Ndoye, Lucca, Yates, Bakwa, Whitehall, Sinclair, Hanks.
Referee: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
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Will Unwin on Vitor Pereira, fourth time lucky for Forest.
Dyche did what he had to, settling things down after a tumultuous start to the season, whereas Pereira wanted to offer greater freedom. Forest are the highest scorers in the league since his arrival, with 19 in nine matches, and have the third-best defence and would sit sixth over the period, according to Goalpoint. Under Pereira, Forest have scored 8.02 goals above xG, arguably a result of the increase in confidence and risk-taking.
Last time out in the Premier League:
The first leg:
Preamble
Nottingham Forest have the advantage but it’s a narrow one. Can Aston Villa overturn it? Their form last week at the City Ground, and in losing to Tottenham last Sunday, has slumped. Just at the wrong time? We’re about to find out. Forest meanwhile have thundered into form, and the stattos will tell you they are hugely outperforming their xG. Though didn’t that used to be said about the Villa? By midnight – hopefully not that late – we will know who will be heading to Istanbul for the final.
Kick-off at 8pm. Join me.
