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67 min: Gibbs-White, who looks really bashed up, is sat at the back of the Forest bench. They’re bringing on other players before him.
66 min: Rogers has a dig, Ortega does well but Villa seem far more likely to score the next goal. Forest’s forwards have been negligible, at best.
65 min: Kari Tulinius is bang on here: “Nikola Milenkovic is a veteran defender, who distinguished himself in Serie A and has many, many caps for Serbia. I guess this just goes to show that experience never eliminates the propensity for being a bonehead. Silly boy.”
64 min: Villa have had 13 attempts to Forest’s two. They’ve been so dominant. They have been roared to victory. What a noise. When Villa Park rocks, there’s nowhere louder. The same is true of Edgbaston cricket ground. Must be something about Brum.
62 min: Morgan Gibbs-White is getting his boots on. He’s ready to risk face and limb for the cause. His team have missed him.
60 min: Watkins has the ball in the net, lovely flick from Rogers but the striker was coming back from an offside position.
59 min: Prince William is giving it limbs. What a night it’s been so far for His Highness and his team. All going to plan. The noise is incredible.
Goal! Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest (Buendia, 58 pen)
Ortega consults his notes, Buendia steps up, and even though the keeper goes the right way, it’s beyond reach. Villa lead the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
Penalty to Villa!
56 min: Villa want a penalty. Did Milenkovic pull Pau Torres’s shirt? It certainly looks like it. VAR is being actioned. The ref is going to look, and it’s going to be given.
53 min: Hutchinson is clattered by Digne, and that brings Pereira off the bench. The ref runs over to issue reprimands.
52 min: Crystal Palace lead Shakhtar 2-1, 5-2 on aggregate; English teams in every European final.
51 min: Yates gets involved again, manhandling Pau Torres and then Buendia again. Buendia reminds the referee that he’s already been fouled twice.
50 min: Yates leaves one on Buendia, doubtless following orders to the letter.
49 min: Can Villa resume their momentum? McGinn blams in a ball, and Rogers attempts a flick. It goes wide. Forest were sat rather dumbfounded there.
47 min: Ryan Yates is shadowing Buendia, a classic man-marker role from his manager. Elliot Anderson, who was quiet in that first half, has been shoved forward and to the left.
46 min: He’s in the stands, the man who would be king, Prince William. Reckon he’s sorted for a ticket in Istanbul?
The sound of Ozzy’s Crazy Train means we are soon to resume. Forest have made a change; McAtee, who had played OK when in possession, off for Ryan Yates to shore up midfield. Morgan Gibbs-White stays on the bench for now.
Stephen McCrossan is back: “Further to the ongoing ‘gubbed’ debate, Simon McMahon is, of course, correct.
“However, it is also commonly used - in leafy Glasgow - as one of many euphemisms for being drunk (see also ‘blootered’, ‘steaming’, ‘bladdered’ and the classic ‘pished’.)“
Daniel Halladay gets in touch: “After gushing about Johan Manzambi’s abilities during the first leg last week I’m very happy to see him demonstrate those abilities with a tremendous long range effort. Now I suppose I should praise Freiburg keeper Atubolu in hopes that I can manifest an excellent performance from him as well.”
Simon McMahon gets in touch: “Evening John. Gubbed, meaning ‘badly beaten’, has been commonly used up here in Dundee for as long as I can remember. Maybe I’m just used to hearing it as a Dundee United fan. It’s a great word all the same.”
Half-time: Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest (1-1 agg)
Villa have been excellent, Forest have clung on grimly. They will hope that Villa blew themselves out during an all-action half. We’re still on a knife edge. Extra-time and penalties? Don’t bet against it.
45+3 min: Cunha is booked for cropping down Buendia. An old-style reducer.
45+2 min: Justin Kavanagh gets in touch: “Tell Stephen McCrossan that though I feel his pain (re. overused commentators), I’ll gladly take his Ally McCoist in exchange for the utter inanities of our boor du jour here in the States Al(ex)i Lallas. One of several Fox Soccer-related reasons why I’ll be watching the World Cup in Spanish. And by the way, it doesn’t matter where Lindelof plays… he’s usually a postcode or two out of position.”
45 min: Only four minutes added on, despite that lengthy delay. Forest will be glad of that. Big team talk to come from Big Vit in the away dressing room.
44 min: Villa’s midfield is dominating, their players all playing close together, and Lindelof doing a manful job in holding the shape. That gives the others space to sparkle. McGinn, the classic Scottish ball player, has been excellent. Villa just aren’t the same without him.
42 min: Rayo Vallecano lead Strasbourg 2-0 in the Conference League on aggregate, and so are likely to face Palace in the final.
41 min: What can Forest find? Hutchinson cuts inside past Pau Torres, who slips, but has the luck to fall in front of Hutchinson.
39 min: Good news from Freiburg – if you are a Freiburg fan – they are 2-0 up Braga and now lead on aggregate.
38 min: Villa want more. McGinn sets up Watkins, whose shot is fierce and fisted out to Rogers, whose shot lacks composure.
37 min: That was beautiful skill from Buendia, dragging players to him, and when he takes his time it opens up Forest’s defence. What a noise greeted that goal. Game on!
Goal! Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Watkins, 36)
Villa keep the pressure up, piling forward, Buendia gets to the byline, delays a beat and then slides it across for Watkins to smash in.
34 min: Tielemans is set up as Villa press the ball clear, Watkins playing him into space but it’s dragged wide. That was a waste; it was Tielemans territory.
32 min: Feels like a while since Forest had an attack but here they come. McAtee’s been very active, and lays up Dominguez after a Chris Wood flick. The ball goes into the Holte End.
30 min: Watkins is stitched up and bandaged, and back playing. Is that wise? It’s a debate that continues. We presume concussion protocol was carried out.
28 min: Alistair McCoist wants that to be a penalty. To be fair to the great man, it did resemble a “Glasgow kiss” but it won’t be given against Morata.
26 min: Another game, another clash of heads. Feels like we see this every week. Watkins and Morato climb, and the Villa striker takes a nasty one. Looks nasty.
24 min: Good news from Selhurst, to use the commentator’s tick of thinking we should all support every English team in Europe: Crystal Palace are 1-0 up on Shakhtar and now 4-1 up, and on their way to Leipzig.
22 min: Stephen McCrossan gets in touch: “Would it be appropriate to suggest that not everyone shares TNT’s enthusiasm for having Ally ‘I’ll tell you what Fletch’ McCoist co-commentating on what seems like every match?
“I can only presume I’m in the minority here but I find his endless hyperbolic guff extremely wearing. Umpteen variations on ‘I have to say’, ‘I’d suggest to you’ and the inevitable ‘absolutely’ on the way.”
There’s a case to say that Alistair is on rather too much. I used to enjoy him in tandem with Jon Champion in summer tourneys.
