'We'll go down in history' - Villa end trophy wait on momentous night

Breaking news from the world of sport: 'We'll go down in history' - Villa end trophy wait on momentous nightImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Unai Emery had won three Europa League titles with Sevilla and one with Villarreal ByNick Mashiter at Besiktas Park Football reporterPublished8 minutes agoUnai Emery delivered on his promise. Three-and-a-half years ago he walked into Villa Park and vowed he had joined Aston Villa to win trophies. On Wednesday in Istanbul, he achieved it.

Skipper John McGinn lifted the Europa League trophy after a 3-0 victory over Freiburg to etch Villa's name into the history books again. In front of nine of the 1982 European Cup heroes - including captain Dennis Mortimer and goalscorer Peter Withe - Villa wrote themselves another momentous chapter. Spectacular strikes from Youri Tielemans and Emi Buendia sent them on their way, with Morgan Rogers sealing victory.

Match Details

This time they still played in white and beat a German team in red. Instead of Bayern Munich, it was Freiburg. Instead of Rotterdam, it was Istanbul.

For Withe it was Tielemans, Buendia and Rogers as Emery clinched his fifth Europa League title. Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Aston Villa lifted the Europa League for the first time in their history Emery cements his Villa legacyEmery's previous four were already a competition record and while he dismissed the suggestion he was a European king, he is a serial winner. Six finals, five wins with the latest cementing a legacy at Villa Park which will last decades.

Villa officials were nervous talking about the trophy parade in advance, which needed to be organised ahead of time given the disruption in Birmingham, but the squad will flaunt it in the city on Thursday afternoon. If Tielemans' volley - rounding off a short corner routine - gave them the platform then Buendia's curler into the top corner put one hand on the trophy. Former Villa midfielder Ian Taylor, a fan of the club who scored in the 1996 League Cup win - the last time Villa won major silverware, leapt out of his press box chair and punched the air.

Reactions and Expectations

Rogers' third had the substitutes celebrating on the pitch and an airborne Emery leaping on the touchline with clenched fists. "I feel amazing," Tielemans told TNT. "My voice is a bit gone but it's all good.

We put in a shift and a top performance, we've had a great season and to top it off with this. It's been a season with a lot of ups and downs. We started so 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.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.