After a catastrophic month of November without the slightest victory in five matches, all competitions combined, Aston Villa seemed to be back on track in this first half of December. But after three victories in a row, including two in the league and one in the Champions League, the team coached by Unai Emery fell back on Saturday against Nottingham Forest (2-1, 16th day of the Premier League.)
However, things seemed to be shaping up well for the visitors who opened the scoring with their offensive revelation at the start of the season, Jhon Duran, shortly after the hour mark (0-1, 63rd), but they completely slipped in the final minutes of the game. After an initial heat and Chris Wood’s goal refused for offside on the Forest side (82nd), the Villans collapsed for good five minutes later.
Forest clings to the Top 5
And it was Nikola Milenkovic who equalized for the locals (1-1, 87th) before Anthony Elanga crucified Aston Villa in stoppage time (2-1, 90th+3). The visitors are provisionally sixth in the standings, but could be overtaken on Sunday if their first two pursuers, Brighton and Bournemouth, succeed (or even draw).
This result, however, is an excellent operation for Nottingham which remains in the wake of Arsenal, in fourth position and two points behind the Gunners.
