Credit: Imago

Aheed Abrar

Wed 20 May 2026 23:00, UK

Morgan Rogers scored for Aston Villa in the Europa League final against Freiburg on Wednesday.

The England international scored the Villans’ third at Besiktas Stadium at around the hour mark to seal the tie on 20 May.

After 44 years, the Lions’ fans tasted Turkish delight as their team triumphed in Europe for the first time since 1982, beating Julian Schuster’s team 3-0 on the night.

While Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia scored some brilliant strikes for the B6 club, Ally McCoist was left impressed by the former Middlesbrough playmaker’s movement in the build-up to his goal.

Unai Emery has another Europa League winners’ medal in his cabinet and the Spanish manager will be glad to have someone like Rogers at his disposal.

Morgan Rogers delivers in Aston Villa win vs Freiburg

Speaking on TNT Sports 1, McCoist said, “It’s a brilliant centre forward’s goal, and he’s not necessarily an out-and-out centre forward. A first-class goal. I loved it. Movement is sharp, knows the ball is arriving at the right time. Gets the touch. Goal.”

Rogers was instrumental in Villa’s opener, with the playmaker’s delivery from the short-corner routine setting the ball up on a plate for Tielemans.

The 23-year-old had a 100 per cent passing accuracy in the opposition half, recording 30 touches and one key pass in Turkiye, as per Sofascore.

With the Englishman playing just behind Ollie Watkins, he registered four shots, of which two were on target and one was blocked.

The attacking-midfielder also contributed defensively at times, making one interception, one clearance, winning two of his six ground duels and both aerial duels.

Unai Emery got tactics spot on at Besiktas Stadium

Emery schooled Julian Schuster in the Europa League final, catching Freiburg completely off guard in the opening minutes.

Villa consistently played the ball long to Ollie Watkins, creating some dangerous moments at the start of the game and putting the opposition defence under immediate pressure.

After slowly building into the game, the Villans started to pass the Bundesliga club out of the park.

The Spanish manager is the king of the competition after winning his record fifth title and he will go down in the history books as the Lions lifted their first trophy in 30 years near the mouth of the Bousphorous.