A pair of quick fire early goals drove Aston Villa to a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday at Villa Park, further thickening the top-four plot in the Premier League.
WATCH – Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest full match replay
Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen gave Villa a two-goal lead after 15 minutes, and Jota Silva was the only Forest player to solve Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez over 90 minutes.
Villa earned the three points on the scoreboard but had to defend to the end thanks to six saves from Forest keeper Matz Sels, who kept the game up for grabs.
Villa join sixth-place Man City on 51 points, one behind fourth-place Chelsea. The Villans are six back of third-place Nottingham Forest, who fail to take advantage of Arsenal’s draw with Everton.
More to come…
How to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:30 pm ET Saturday
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest final score: 2-1
Morgan Rogers 13′, Donyell Malen 15′, Jota Silva 57′
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest live updates — By Nick Mendola
Full time — Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Rogers solo run denied
Morgan Rogers is feeling it on a long dribble down the right side, opting against sending Marcus Rashford 1v1 with Sels by juking around a mark and hitting a low shot that is smothered by Sels.
Still 2-1 Villa, now into the 67th minute.
Jota Silva goal — Villa 2-1 Forest (57th minute)
Neco Williams’ low entry pass is taken off the foot of Elliot Anderson by Jota Silva, who wheels and fires through the legs of a defender to defy Emiliano Martinez and spin inside the far post.
Forest are back in this through Nuno’s halftime sub.
Silva puts Forest on the board against Aston Villa
Nottingham Forest pull one back as Jota Silva makes it a one-goal match in the second half at Villa Park.
Subs
Villa’s Andres Garcia exits for Ezri Konsa at the break, while Jota Silva replaces Anthony Elanga for Forest.
Halftime — Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Expect changes at the break for Nuno Espirito Santo, whose Forest need a jolt to their hopes of a point or more today. But remember: Chris Wood’s hip injury keeps him unavailable and a fresh injury to Taiwo Awoniyi is leaving Forest without a true No. 9 (and it is showing, with all due respect to the false-nine skills of Morgan Gibbs-White). Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva are the only true attackers on Forest’s bench.
Villa, meanwhile, are well on their way to not taxing the squad ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Shot attempts are 8-6 for Villa, who have held 62% of the ball and lead xG by nearly a full point: 1.22-0.33.
Donyell Malen goal — Villa 2-0 Forest (15th minute)
Villa have had the first five shot attempts of the match and now they’ve got a 40% conversion rate.
Ian Maatsen takes a short pass from Tielemans and drives down the left, sending the ball into the six where Malen slides it past Sels.
Malen taps in Aston Villa’s second against Forest
Aston Villa have a two-goal cushion thanks to some excellent play from Ian Maatsen to find Donyell Malen in front of goal for a simple finish against Nottingham Forest.
Morgan Rogers goal — Villa 1-0 Forest (13th minute)
Villa find their way through normally-resilient Forest in style.
Youri Tielemans looks up and sees Morgan Rogers ready to take on the right side of a reorganized Forest back line missing Ola Aina.
Rogers gets onto the long ball and carries toward goal before dragging a shot across goal and inside Matz Sels’ far post.
Rogers powers Villa 1-0 ahead of Nottingham Forest
A beautiful first touch from Morgan Rogers set up his strike to make it 1-0 for Aston Villa against Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.
Aston Villa lineup
Martinez, Garcia, Disasi, Mings, Maatsen, Onana, Asensio, Tielemans, Malen, Rogers, Watkins
Nottingham Forest lineup
Sels, Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Morato, Dominguez, Yates, Anderson, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Elanga
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest preview — By Andy Edwards
For Aston Villa (7th – 48 points), it’s a matter of showing up and showing on a multiple fronts, most notably in the UEFA Champions League where they find themselves up against PSG in the quarterfinals next week. Their continental success hasn’t come at the expense of domestic endeavors, though, as Unai Emery’s side is also in the semifinal of the FA Cup (vs Crystal Palace later this month) and within three points of qualifying for next season’s Champions League via the Premier League. Wednesday’s 3-0 victory over Brighton was spearheaded by three attackers signed in January, as Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio and Donyell Malen each scored and sent Villa a place and a point above the Seagulls in the table.
At the same time, there probably isn’t a better story in all of sports than Nottingham Forest (57 points), who sit 3rd after 30 games as they inch closer to Europe’s premier competition for the first time in 45 years. The Tricky Trees came out of nowhere after they were nearly relegated, with just 18 victories combined in their first two seasons back in the top flight. Already this season, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side has won 17 times. The same goes for clean sheets — Forest’s 13 are joint-most in PL this season, and one more than the last two season combined — and perhaps also total points by season’s end (13 more to reach 70).
Aston Villa team news
OUT: Ross Barkley (calf) | QUESTIONABLE: Leon Bailey (knock)
Nottingham Forest team news
QUESTIONABLE: Chris Wood (hip), Ola Aina (calf), Callum Hudson-Odoi (personal)
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest prediction
Both sides had a relatively easy time in their midweek victories, but Forest could be shorthanded and missing a spark in attack if Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi are once again unavailable. Villa are plenty susceptible to falling into their trap, but the firepower on hand makes them too tough to pick against. Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest.
