Credit: Imago

James Barker

Fri 8 May 2026 19:10, UK

Ollie Watkins has joked about having a “sore head” following Aston Villa‘s Europa League semi-final victory over Nottingham Forest.

What a difference a few days can make in the atmosphere and feeling around a football club.

Indeed, after Aston Villa’s dismal defeat to Tottenham last Sunday, there was a real sense of anger and tension going into their Europa League semi-final clash with Nottingham Forest on Thursday night.

The Villa Park faithful demanded a huge response from the performance they witnessed against Spurs, in which they let the players know just how disappointed they were in that display.

However, by full-time, B6 was absolutely bouncing, as Unai Emery‘s side dispatched Forest 4-0 in the night and booked their ticket to the Europa League final in Istanbul on 20 May.

What has Ollie Watkins said after Nottingham Forest win?

Watkins struggled against Forest in the Premier League during their last meeting on 30 April, and went into Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg having failed to find the net in his last three games.

Prior to that run of form though, the 30-year-old was in red-hot form, and so after his disappointing 30-minute cameo from the bench against Tottenham, he soon put that right.

He scored the opening goal of the game on 36 minutes, tapping home after some excellent footwork from Emi Buendia saw his ball across the six-yard box meet the boot of Watkins for 1-0, and 1-1 on aggregate.

Watkins then turned provider in the second half, after he teed up John McGinn for his first-time finish into the far corner for 3-0 on the night and 3-1 on aggregate, as Villa began putting the tie beyond any doubt.

After the full-time whistle blew at Villa Park, and their ticket was punched for Istanbul, Watkins took to his Instagram account to send a cheeky celebratory message, making light of his battle wound that he picked up against Forest.

Both he and Forest defender Morato suffered a clash of heads not long before Watkins opened the scoring, and the Villa striker needed to be bandaged up in order to continue.

“Sore head in the morning. See you in Istanbul,” Watkins wrote.

Watkins was excellent for Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest

Watkins has endured an up and down season for Aston Villa, having struggled to show his best at times in 2025-26.

However, Thursday night saw him revert back to his brilliant best, with his two goal contributions only telling part of the story as to just how good he was.

As per FotMob, Watkins registered three of his four shots on target, made two interceptions and five recoveries respectively.

He also won his two aerial duels, won one foul, was caught offside only once and he completed 17 out of his 22 pass attempts accurately.

This performance should hopefully see Watkins kick on again and enjoy a strong end to the season, and he’s sure to have a big say in the final against Freiburg later this month too.