Friday’s briefing: European delight for Aston Villa and Crystal Palace
Aston Villa made it through to their first European final in 44 years after thrashing Nottingham Forest in the second leg of their all-English Europa League semi-final.
Crystal Palace soared into their first European final with victory over Shakhtar Donetsk in the second leg of their Conference League semi-final.
Middlesbrough lodged a complaint with the English Football League over allegations of unauthorised filming by someone connected to Southampton during a training session ahead of their Sky Bet Championship play-off semi-final.
Emery’s Europa League magic goes on
Aston Villa made it through to a first European final in 44 years after thrashing Nottingham Forest 4-0 in the all-English Europa League semi-final to advance 4-1 on aggregate.
Boss Unai Emery is now one win away from a fifth title in a competition he specialises in and only Bundesliga outfit Freiburg stand between Villa and their first major trophy in 30 years.
Villa came into the second leg trailing to Chris Wood’s penalty last week, but no one knows their way around a Europa League semi-final better than Emery.
His side turned the tie around in style as a first-half goal from Ollie Watkins, Emi Buendia’s penalty and John McGinn’s quickfire double booked Villa’s place in the Istanbul final on May 20.
“We were focusing on what we needed to improve and the players responded fantastic. They were so focused, ” Villa boss Emery said.
Forest boss Vitor Pereira was left to reflect on what might have been given their injury problems.
“In the end, I’m proud of my team and players, of our supporters, but we came without conditions to compete for the final,” he said.
Crystal Palace soared into their first European final after Conference League top scorer Ismaila Sarr grabbed his ninth goal in the competition to claim a 2-1 semi-final second-leg victory over Shakhtar Donetsk.
For at least a certain generation of Eagles supporters, this was undoubtedly the most important fixture in nearly 102 years of Selhurst Park history – one the hosts entered with a 3-1 first-leg advantage and went on to settle the tie 5-2 on aggregate.
Eagles boss Oliver Glasner said: “The commitment, the effort, the discipline, was exceptional.
“These moments you can’t buy. These moments you have to deserve. I think everybody, every single player, every one of the staff, deserved this moment.”
The English Football League has received a complaint from Middlesbrough over allegations of unauthorised filming by someone connected to Southampton during a training session.
Ahead of the two teams’ Championship play-off semi-final first leg on Saturday, the EFL said on Thursday it had written to Southampton regarding the claims.
“The alleged incident is said to have taken place on Middlesbrough’s private property by an individual identified to be associated with Southampton,” an EFL spokesperson said.
“The League is treating this matter as potential misconduct under EFL regulations and will be making no further comment at this time.”
What’s on today?
The Sky Bet Championship play-offs get under way with the semi-final first leg between Hull and Millwall at the MKM Stadium.
In Scotland, Arbroath will be out to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Dunfermline in the second leg of their William Hill Premiership play-off quarter-final at Gayfield Park.