Tammy Abraham achieved a historic feat by winning his fourth UEFA club trophy, becoming the second player ever to do so. He won the Champions League with Chelsea, the Europa Conference League with Roma, and now the Europa League with Aston Villa.
Aston Villa's core players reflect on their journey from promotion to the Europa League final, highlighting resilience and fan support. Emiliano Martínez expresses pride in staying with the club and belief in their chances, while manager Unai Emery focuses on the present challenge.
Tottenham Hotspur travel to Aston Villa on Saturday evening (7pm BST) in a crucial Premier League clash. Spurs, sitting 18th in the relegation zone, have shown improvement under new manager Roberto De Zerbi with four points from the last two matches. Villa, fifth-placed and on course for Champions League qualification, are managed by Unai Emery. The match offers Tottenham a chance to climb out of the relegation zone if West Ham's loss to Brentford holds.
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest meet in the first all-English Europa League semi-final since 2009, with Villa seeking to end a 30-year trophy drought. Villa, led by Unai Emery, have built remarkable stability with eight players from their starting XI 3.5 years ago still capable of starting. Forest, under Vítor Pereira, are unbeaten in eight matches and have scored more Premier League goals than anyone since February. The tie represents Villa's third consecutive major semi-final.
Curtis Jones sums up Liverpool’s approach, Eddie Howe’s transfer record under scrutiny and Tammy Abraham shows his worthFor Manchester City, Gianluigi Donnarumma has always been a case of risk and reward. Perhaps only Thibaut Courtois is as fine a shot-stopper as Italy’s Euro 2020 hero, though many goalkeepers are better with the ball at their feet. Claudio Bravo, let alone Ederson, would be unlikely to dither in the fashion that alerted Kai Havertz to the possibility of pressing City’s keeper as close as possible for Arsenal’s goal. Donnarumma was the signing who bucked the Pep Guardiola doctrines, and his goalkeeping has been crucial to City’s revival but such mistakes have always been part of the giant Italian’s makeup. Paris Saint-Germain would not meet his wage demands, and opted for Lille’s Lucas Chevalier, a better ball-player as an ill-starred replacement. Donnarumma smothered a good chance for Havertz in the second half. His big mistake, seconds after Rayan Cherki’s opener, did not, after all, become the key twist in the title race. John BrewinMatch report: Manchester City 2-1 ArsenalMatch report: Everton 1-2 LiverpoolMatch report: Tottenham 2-2 BrightonMatch report: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester UnitedMatch report: Newcastle 1-2 Bournemouth Continue reading...
The finish was chaotic, brilliant, exhausting but, when the dust settles, this perhaps was the afternoon when Aston Villa made a decisive spurt for the finish line to claim Champions League qualification. As Tammy Abraham touched in the winner three minutes into injury-time, Unai Emery ran on to the pitch in celebration. Yet just a minute earlier Habib Diarra had been set clean through with a chance of his own to win it. Emi Martínez, though, stretched up to save his dink, and the road was cleared for the Villa winner.“We need strikers and goalkeepers,” said Emery. “It was the match -three points for them and no three points for us.” Continue reading...
Tammy Abraham's late winner helps Aston Villa survive a late Sunderland fightback and give Unai Emery's side a crucial 4-3 victory in their quest for Champions League football next season.
