Credit: Imago

James Barker

Thu 7 May 2026 21:57, UK

Aston Villa are on their way to Istanbul for the Europa League final, after beating Nottingham Forest 4-0 on the night and 4-1 on aggregate.

Unai Emery‘s side lacked energy and interest against Tottenham, but they put that right at Villa Park on Thursday night.

The Villa boss made just one change to his team for their Europa League semi-final second leg against Forest, with Victor Lindelof coming into midfield to replace Amadou Onana.

After a dominant start to the game, Ollie Watkins gave Villa the lead on the night and levelled the tie after 36 minutes.

Emi Buendia’s second-half penalty and John McGinn’s quickfire brace sent Aston Villa to the Europa League final, on a night at Villa Park that will live long in the memory of Villans everywhere.

Emi Buendia shows his class in Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest

Buendia has been coming in for criticism for his performances in recent weeks, which have largely seen him fail to leave an impression on games.

However, he was able to score an excellent, albeit consolation, header against Tottenham last time out, and he took that individual momentum into his performance against Nottingham Forest on Thursday night.

After a poor Forest clearance came straight back to their box, the ball eventually found its way to Buendia just outside the box on the Villa left.

He moved into the area before a dazzling piece of footwork, shifting the ball from his right foot to his left and back to his right, beating both Jair Cunha and Elliot Anderson before he squared the ball across the face of goal.

Watkins was there to score one of the easiest goals he’ll ever score for Aston Villa, and Buendia’s impact on the tie was far from done there.

After VAR judged that Pau Torres had his shirt pulled inside the box, Buendia stepped up to take the Villa penalty to give his side the lead in the tie.

That’s exactly what the Argentinian did, confidently stroking the ball past Stefan Ortega despite the German keeper guessing right and diving down to his right, Buendia’s penalty nestled into the bottom corner.

Buendia was absolutely everywhere for Villa, and without his performance, Emery’s side may not have punched their ticket to the Europa League final.

Lindelof shows his worth to Aston Villa

As aforementioned, Villa’s midfield maestro Onana wasn’t able to make Emery’s teamsheet on Thursday night as he continues to recover from his calf injury.

That prompted Emery into making an eye-catching call, and that was to start Lindelof in the midfield in place of the Belgian.

The Swede has played there before during his career, but being a centre-back by trade and having last appeared for Villa in their 1-1 draw with Forest on 12 April, this was a surprising move.

Lindelof showed why he’s still such an important piece of squad depth on Thursday night though, as he stepped into midfield with confidence, and put in a quality performance.

That had every chance of being a weak spot for Forest to exploit, but Lindelof was good and smart in possession, completed his only dribble attempt and won his sole ground duel, as per FotMob.

He was also not dispossessed once, made three interceptions and two recoveries, played four passes into the final third before being withdrawn for Lamare Bogarde on 74 minutes.

Aston Villa player ratings vs Nottingham Forest

Emi Martinez – 7

Matty Cash – 7

Ezri Konsa – 8

Pau Torres – 8

Lucas Digne – 6

Youri Tielemans – 7

Victor Lindelof – 8

John McGinn – 9

Morgan Rogers – 7

Emi Buendia – 9

Ollie Watkins – 8

Subs

Lamare Bogarde (for Lindelof, ’74) – 6

Jadon Sancho (for Buendia’ 86) – N/A

Tyrone Mings (for Rogers, ’89) – N/A

Leon Bailey (for McGinn, ’90) – N/A

Douglas Luiz (for Torres, ’90) – N/A