Buendía stars as Aston Villa thrash Forest, reach Europa League final | OneFootball

Aston Villa thrashed Nottingham Forest 4-0 this Thursday at Villa Park (4-1 on aggregate) in the second leg of the 2025/26 UEFA Europa League semifinals. The match hinged on a brilliant performance from Emiliano Buendía, who produced a display of the highest level.

The game began with a few isolated chances. Forest struck first, with a left-footed effort from the right by Omari Hutchinson that went wide, and Villa responded with a Pau Torres header that forced a save from Ortega Moreno.

But the match was broken open for the first time in the 36th minute. Ollie Watkins put the Villans ahead, with Villa controlling the ball but struggling to hurt Forest.

The 1-0 goal actually came from a great play by Emiliano Buendía, who received the ball on the left, beat two markers with fantastic close control, and sent in a low cross that found the striker almost alone on the goal line. With that goal, the Villans leveled the aggregate score and began to loosen up and play with more composure.

The goal lifted Aston Villa, who soon after came close to going in front overall. Watkins was involved again, this time on the edge of the box, unleashing a powerful shot that once more brought out the best in Ortega Moreno.

Early in the second half, the Villans made it 2-0 with a bizarre penalty. Nikola Milenković pulled Pau Torres by the shirt during a Villa attack and, after a VAR review, referee Glenn Nyberg pointed to the spot.

Buendía stepped up to take the penalty, again choosing to shoot to his left. Ortega Moreno went the right way, but the strike was precise and he could not prevent the 2-0.

In the 70th minute, Forest had their golden chance. A spectacular through ball sent Chris Wood through one-on-one with Dibu Martínez. The goalkeeper, however, came out on top against the New Zealander, who aimed for the near post only to be denied by a superb save with the Argentine’s foot.

That was all for the visitors, who in the 77th and 80th minutes saw their hopes vanish with a John McGinn brace made up of two very similar stunners. For the first, a long ball fell to Watkins, who laid it off to the right, and No. 7 opened up his foot to finish low and accurately for the third.

And for the fourth, it was Morgan Rogers who played it out to the right, and this time the captain fired hard and low at the near post to spark wild celebrations and seal qualification for the final.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.