By Bonface Mulyungi
Aston Villa beat Freiburg 3-0 to win the Europa League final after two outstanding first-half goals sent royalty into a frenzy. Villa’s success means they have ended their 30-year wait for a major trophy.
After a tense first 40 minutes, Youri Tielemans broke the deadlock in Istanbul with a glorious volley before Emiliano Buendia curled in a stunning strike in the second minute of stoppage time. Replays showed Prince William celebrating wildly in the stands at the Besiktas Stadium.
Morgan Rogers made it 3-0 to the Villans in the 58th minute when he turned in Buendia’s cross into the six-yard box. And that was how the match finished to confirm long-awaited silverware for the Premier League club.
It means Villa have won their first trophy since the 1996 League Cup. Villa had not won a trophy in Europe since their famous 1982 European Cup triumph over Bayern Munich in Rotterdam – the same year that the Prince of Wales was born.
Tielemans the media post-match: “I feel amazing. My voice has gone but it’s worth it. We put in a shift, top performance. It’s been a great season and to top it off with this, amazing. It’s been a season of ups and downs. We started so bad, our standards were very poor.
“The way we turned things around was a credit to the players and staff. We kept working, believing. We got the win in the end, Champions League next season and a trophy.”
While Rogers, who netted the third goal of the night, added: “Great moment for the fans and for the club. We’ll go down in history.”
Unai Emery is now a five-time Europa League winner having already won it three times previously with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.
Villa are the 11th different club from England to win Europe’s second-tier competition. Victory also ensures the Midlands club, who currently occupy fourth spot in the league, will return to the Champions League next season.
And as an added bonus for the Premier League, if Villa finish fifth in the table, the team ending in sixth spot will also qualify. As it stands, that would be Bournemouth. But the Cherries need Emery’s men to lose away at Manchester City on Sunday and also require Liverpool to win against Brentford at Anfield.
