Aston Villa 4-0 Bologna (7-1 agg): Emery edges closer to more Europa League glory

Aston Villa booked their spot in the Europa League semi-finals with a 4-0 second-leg victory over Bologna, securing a 7-1 triumph on aggregate.

Most of the damage was done before half-time at Villa Park, with Unai Emery's side setting up an all-Premier League semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

The hosts took the lead after 16 minutes, with Lucas Digne, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers wonderfully linking up before the latter put the ball on a plate for Ollie Watkins, who scored his 100th goal for Villa.

Rogers saw a penalty saved in the 25th minute after Martin Vitik was penalised for handball, but it mattered little as less than 60 seconds later, Digne found Buendia in the box with a long throw and the midfielder fired past Federico Ravaglia.

Rogers did get on the scoresheet before the break, receiving the ball on the left side of the box from John McGinn before taking a touch and beating the Bologna goalkeeper at the near post.

It was a quiet second half in comparison, but Ezri Konsa rounded off a fantastic win with a fine volley on the swivel in the 89th minute, after Bologna failed to clear their lines from a corner.

Data Debrief: First-half excellence from Villa

Emery's side produced 2.42 expected goals (xG) from 13 shots to Bologna's 0.96 from 11 attempts, with 2.15 of the English team's tally coming in a dominant first-half display.

Villa had 10 shots in the first half of a major European knockout-stage game for the first time since the 2023-24 Conference League semi-final versus Olympiacos (11).

Villa were also leading by three goals at half-time in a major European game for only the third time, also doing so in the European Cup versus Valur in September 1981 and against Besiktas in September 1982.

Rogers, meanwhile, became the first player to have four or more shots and create three or more chances in the first half of a Europa League game this season, as he ran the show in the opening 45 minutes.