Written by Matt Brown
📷 - @avfcofficial
Aston Villa moved up to second in the table and extended their unbeaten home run to eight games with a 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.
The home side dominated the first half with 79% possession, yet they struggled to find the back of the net, registering just one shot on target. That was until Ollie Watkins rifled home a sensational strike right on the stroke of half-time.
In the first half, the only real highlight for the Sky Sports cameras regarding Forest was a shot of manager Sean Dyche playing with his watch on the sideline—presumably a Christmas present. However, the Forest manager soon wished he could turn back time when, just four minutes into the second half, Villa captain John McGinn doubled the hosts' lead.
Any momentum Unai Emery’s men hoped to carry forward was short-lived; just after the hour mark, Forest pulled one back through Morgan Gibbs-White.
Yet, Aston Villa look like a different team this season—one that shows no sign of slowing down and was determined to bounce back from a heavy defeat to league leaders Arsenal. Their efforts were duly rewarded when Youri Tielemans played a long ball through to McGinn, who maintained his composure to score from long range.
The goal came via some extremely questionable decision-making from Nottingham Forest goalkeeper João Victor; the Brazilian rushed out to close down the Scottish international despite McGinn being nearly 30 yards from goal. Victor’s day went from bad to worse as he sustained an injury in the process and had to be substituted. It appeared he suffered more than just a bruised ego.
Both sides attempted to apply pressure during the final 15 minutes, but at the final whistle, the score remained 3-1 to Aston Villa, much to the delight of the Villa Park faithful.
Villa now travel to Selhurst Park on Wednesday for a tough test against Crystal Palace. Meanwhile, Forest head to London on Tuesday to face relegation rivals West Ham, who will be determined to bounce back after an embarrassing 3-0 defeat away at basement club Wolves.
Add comment
Comments