ZeeboiEven with a breathtaking late strike from Murillo that rattled the crossbar, Nottingham Forest couldn’t avoid defeat at Villa Park on Saturday.
Jota Silva’s goal proved insufficient against early strikes from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen, who clinched a 2-1 victory for Aston Villa, narrowing the gap to six points behind Forest in the Premier League standings.
The Reds put up an unusually porous defensive showing, allowing Aston Villa 17 shots, a statistic that will trouble Nuno Espirito Santo—though Unai Emery still found plenty to admire in Forest’s performance.
What Unai Emery said about Nottingham Forest:
After the win, the Spaniard told the BBC: “Nottingham were competing very well today. They are favourites to get top five in the league. We are going to focus every match to try to get the best out of each match we are playing. We need to enjoy what we are doing.”
Nuno’s team showed attacking intent, pressing forward to recover from a shaky opening with 19 shots of their own—yet only three were on target, highlighting a lack of precision in the final third.
The real problem for Nottingham Forest, currently eyeing Luis Henrique, was their sluggish start, leaking goals in the 13th and 15th minutes—a tough way to kick off against a formidable outfit that’s reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals and the FA Cup semi-finals.
Nuno Espirito Santo must reignite Nottingham Forest’s away form:
A troubling pattern is taking shape as Nottingham Forest—like Darwin Nunez—near the critical phase of the season.
After winning seven and drawing two of their first 11 Premier League away matches, Forest have now dropped four of their last five games on the road.
With challenging away fixtures against Tottenham, Crystal Palace, and West Ham still looming in the final seven games, Nuno faces the task of rediscovering his side’s spark away from the City Ground, or risk a tense finish to the 2024/25 season with a Champions League spot hanging in the balance.
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