Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest have set up an all-English Europa League semi-final clash after both sides secured convincing quarter-final victories on Thursday night.
Aston Villa thrashed Bologna 4-0 at Villa Park to complete a dominant 7-1 aggregate win, while Nottingham Forest edged 10-man Porto 1-0 to progress 2-1 on aggregate.
Villa, who carried a 3-1 first-leg advantage into the return leg, showed their superiority early as Ollie Watkins continued his fine European form.
The England striker opened scoring in the 16th minute after a slick 14-pass move finished with Morgan Rogers setting him up for a simple tap-in.
Watkins’ goal was his 100th for the club and saw him become Villa’s all-time leading scorer in European competitions with 10 goals, surpassing Peter Withe and John McGinn.
Unai Emery’s side missed a chance to extend their lead further when Rogers’ 25th-minute penalty was saved, after Bologna’s Federico Ravaglia denied him from the spot.
However, Villa quickly responded, with Emiliano Buendia blasting in a powerful strike in the 26th minute before Rogers made amends for his penalty miss by scoring in the 39th minute.
Ezri Konsa completed the rout in the 89th minute with a volley to seal a commanding win.
At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest took advantage of an early red card for Porto defender Jan Bednarek, who was sent off in the eighth minute for a dangerous challenge on Chris Wood.
Morgan Gibbs-White put Forest ahead in the 12th minute when his effort from the edge of the box deflected past the goalkeeper.
The midfielder celebrated by dedicating his goal to teammate Elliot Anderson, who missed the match following the death of his mother.
Forest survived late pressure as Porto twice came close, hitting the woodwork in the second half and again in the closing minutes.
The win sends Forest into their first European semi-final since the 1983-84 UEFA Cup campaign, while Villa reach their second European semi-final under Unai Emery after their Conference League run in 2024.
Elsewhere, Freiburg and Sporting Braga also booked their places in the semi-finals after eliminating Celta Vigo and Real Betis respectively.
