Villa slam Bologna to set up all-English Europa semi-final

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP):

Ollie Watkins scored again as Aston Villa knocked Bologna out of the Europa League in a 4-0 rout yesterday to set up an all-English semi-final against Nottingham Forest.

Unai Emery’s team reached its second European semi-final in three seasons with a 7-1 aggregate victory.

Watkins had netted twice in last week’s 3-1 win in the first leg of the quarter-final in Italy, and the striker set the pace at Villa Park.

He 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.

Rogers had a golden opportunity to increase the lead but Bologna goalkeeper Federico Ravaglia saved his penalty kick.

Only a minute later, though, Villa doubled their 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 quarter-finals last season and are on course to secure a spot in the lucrative top-tier competition next campaign while sitting fourth in the Premier League.

BIG RETURN TO EUROPE

Forest made the semi-finals by beating 10-man Porto 1-0 in what’s been a successful return to European competition after a 30-year absence. They advanced 2-1 on aggregate after last week’s draw in Portugal.

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.

Wood is a key striker for relegation-threatened Nottingham – and New Zealand’s World Cup plans – and only recently returned from a long-term knee injury.

Porto have never beaten a Premier League club in England in 24 attempts.

The last time Nottingham reached a European semi-final was in 1984 in the UEFA Cup.

FREIBURG’S FINAL FOUR

Freiburg marched into the semi-finals 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 quarter-final.

Freiburg have scored 11 goals in their last three games in the second-tier competition.

Igor Matanović put Freiburg 1-0 up with a stunning left-footed volley from outside the area. Yuito Suzuki doubled the advantage with a deflected shot late in the first half and then beat goalkeeper Ionut Radu after the interval.

Williot Swedberg’s consolation goal came in stoppage time for the Spanish hosts.

Freiburg’s next opponent will be Braga, who came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Real Betis after the teams were tied 1-1 from the first leg.

PALACE IN CONFERENCE SEMIS

Crystal Palace clinched a last-four spot in the third-tier Conference League despite a 2-1 loss to Fiorentina in Florence.

Palace advanced 4-2 on aggregate after a 3-0 home win in the first leg to meet Ukraine’s Shakhtar, which advanced past AZ Alkmaar.

Strasbourg and Rayo Vallecano also advanced.

ITALY IN TROUBLE

Italy’s football crisis only worsened with European exits for Bologna and Fiorentina.

As a result, Italy doesn’t have any club in a European semi-final for the first time in seven years.

That came after Atalanta – the only Italian club to reach the Champions League round of 16 – was eliminated in a whopping 10-2 aggregate loss to Bayern Munich.