Freiburg 0-3 Aston Villa: Europa League king Emery clinches fifth title
Baku, May 21, AZERTAC
Aston Villa have won their first major trophy in 30 years after Unai Emery masterminded another Europa League triumph, beating Freiburg, beIN Sports reports.
Unai Emery clinched his fifth Europa League title after leading Aston Villa to their first European trophy since 1982 with a commanding 3-0 win over Freiburg in the final.
Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendia and Morgan Rogers were all on target at Tupras Stadyumu as Villa ended their 30-year wait for a major trophy in some style.
Villa started on the front foot, with Rogers forcing a smart save out of Noah Atubolu within three minutes before Nicolas Hofler arrowed a shot narrowly wide at the other end shortly after.
Villa halted Freiburg's momentum in the 41st minute. A short corner routine worked wonders for Emery's side as Rogers floated a lovely cross to the far side of the box, where Tielemans made a late dart to put his laces through a volley that nestled into the bottom-left corner.
And on the stroke of half-time, Villa dealt Freiburg a heavy blow as John McGinn squared it to Buendia on the edge of the box and the Argentine curled a stunning strike into the top-left corner.
In the 58th minute, Rogers made sure of the victory as he stretched out a leg to turn Buendia's low centre past Atubolu at the near post.
Villa chased a fourth as Freiburg failed to assert themselves, with Amadou Onana heading against the post before Buendia found the side-netting from close range.
Freiburg, who were playing in just the second major final in their history, attempted to mount a late fightback, with Martinez pouncing to keep out an offside Johan Manzambi as Villa comfortably saw out the victory to get their hands on the trophy.
Emery may have shrugged off his title as the 'King of the Europa League' ahead of kick-off, but there is no arguing with his credentials after he became the first to lift the title with three different clubs.
He won three titles with Sevilla and one with Villarreal, but this one will feel particularly special for Villa, who last won on the European stage in the European Cup in 1982 (against Bayern Munich).
Emery has now won 108 games with Villa - his most at a single club in his managerial career. He has also now won nine of his 11 finals as a manager.
There were some moments of incredible individual quality, and Rogers and Buendia became the second set of team-mates to score and assist in a Europa League final after Eden Hazard and Olivier Giroud for Chelsea vs Emery's Arsenal in 2018-19.
It was a deserving win for Villa, who racked up 2.08 expected goals (xG) from their 17 shots, while Freiburg only mustered 0.22 from four attempts.
Other news in this section
