Aston Villa cruised to a 4-0 win over Bologna in the Europa League quarter-final second leg at Villa Park, securing a 7-1 aggregate victory and a place in the semi-finals. Ollie Watkins opened the scoring with his 100th goal for the club, before Morgan Rogers and Emi Buendia added to the lead. Ezri Konsa sealed the result late on as Unai Emery's side advanced to face Nottingham Forest.
Aston Villa hosted Bologna at Villa Park on Thursday evening, entering the match with a 3-1 lead from the first leg in Italy, where Watkins had scored twice.
The Premier League side lined up unchanged from that game, with Emiliano Martinez returning in goal. Bologna made three changes to their starting XI, including Nicolo Casale and Martin Vitik in defense. Kickoff was at 8pm UK time, broadcast on TNT Sports 2 and streamed via Sky Go for eligible subscribers.
Villa took control early. Watkins turned home a low cross from Morgan Rogers in the 16th minute for his 100th goal for the club, putting the tie beyond doubt. Rogers then had a penalty saved by Federico Ravaglia after a VAR-reviewed handball by Vitik, but Buendia capitalized 44 seconds later on a throw-in from Lucas Digne, sneaking the ball in at the near post.
Rogers atoned for his miss by scoring himself at the near post, ending an 11-game goal drought. Bologna improved after halftime but couldn't score, with Martinez making routine saves.
Konsa fired home from a corner late on for 4-0, completing a dominant performance. Villa have now won their last seven Europa League matches and will meet Midlands rivals Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals. Emery, who has won the competition three times before, nears another final. Historical stats show Villa unbeaten against Italian teams in recent European home games.
