Aston Villa knocked out Bologna out of the UEFA Europa League in a 4-0 rout on Thursday night to set up an all-English semifinal against Nottingham Forest.
Unai Emery’s team reached its second European semifinal in three seasons with a 7-1 aggregate victory in a tie that saw Ollie Watkins netting twice in last week’s 3-1 win in the first leg of the quarterfinal in Italy, and the striker setting up the pace at Villa Park.
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Watkins tapped in a low cross from the left provided by Morgan Rogers for a 1-0 lead after 16 minutes for his 100th goal for Villa. The hosts doubled its lead when Emiliano Buendía scored from a tight angle. Rogers made it 3-0 with another angled shot in the 39th, and Ezri Konsa finished the scoring seconds before the final whistle.
Villa reached the Champions League quarterfinals last season and is on course to secure a spot in the lucrative top-tier competition next campaign while sitting fourth in the Premier League.
In another game, Nottingham Forest made the semifinals by beating 10-man Porto 1-0 in what’s been a successful return to European competition after a 30-year absence. It advanced 2-1 on aggregate after last week’s draw in Portugal.
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Morgan Gibbs-White put the hosts ahead in the 12th minute with a deflected effort from outside the box after Porto defender Jan Bednarek was sent off for fouling Chris Wood, who then had to be substituted with a knee injury.
Freiburg also marched into the semifinals by beating Celta Vigo 3-1. The Bundesliga team reached the last four in a European competition for the first time on a 6-1 aggregate score after last week’s 3-0 victory in the first leg of the quarterfinal.
Freiburg’s next opponent will be Braga, which came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Real Betis after those teams were tied 1-1 from the first leg.
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