Key events
Nuno Espírito Santo speaks to Sky. “First half we didn’t start well … second half different … we had control … chances … but we didn’t score … first half was not good … we were not organised … didn’t block the lines … we tried to find solutions for the second half … the boys showed a better game … it was one of the matches when we created the most … when you lose you don’t recover so well … all the miles come to your mind … but we have a good week to regroup for the game against Everton … a little patience.”
A downbeat Neco Williams talks to Sky. “The first half let us down … we weren’t good enough in the first 15 minutes especially … they dominated the first half … things had to change and in the second half they did … unfortunately we couldn’t get the goals … we created many chances but couldn’t get it over the line … the positives are there … if we weren’t creating chances it would be a problem … the reaction was a positive … our different plan worked … but just not enough … back to the training ground then back on the grass to work towards Everton … the last final games are huge for us … all we can do is focus on the next game and the three points.”
Post-match postbag. “As a Forest fan, I can’t help thinking that if we have to lose we might as well lose to Villa. They’re basically living the dream that we’re chasing for next season, in contention across multiple competitions, rotating a deep, very capable squad, and generally gatecrashing the Cartel Six party. Furthermore, I can’t help thinking we got lucky when we beat them at the City Ground, when a few key refereeing decisions went our way – including for our winning goal. Probably not a popular opinion, but if it means being taken off the mailing list for all future Garibaldi cake bakes and karaoke nights, so be it” – Hasan
“I’m musing on the phenomenon we suddenly find ourselves in where Villa can make eight changes and somehow the starting lineup doesn’t look materially weaker than the first choice 11. Sure, there are some not-quite-like-for-like-quality, but broadly this is a good team, today. Almost unheard of in my decades of fandom, which has mostly had distinctly second-string second strings” – Benjamin Gravestock
“Greetings from the California Republic! I wonder if any fellow readers here in the Golden State are following your blog from the tiny Orange County suburb of Villa Park, located just a couple of traffic jams from Los Angeles. Notable people from Villa Park include actors Kevin Costner and Rosalind Chao. I only bring this up because both teams see cup glory and European qualification beckoning on the Horizon, and both have to deal with a 3 Body Problem in rotating their squads, at the business end of a demanding season” – Peter Oh
A delighted Morgan Rogers speaks to Sky. “It’s a nice moment … a big game … they’re doing really well … we knew we had to start fast … a must-win … the first half we were outstanding … our engine … quality … to withstand their pressure is massive … it’s a squad game … that’s what football is all about … massive signings in January … we made changes but know our jobs and our roles … we’re competing for places … a good performance all round … I’m playing with confidence right now … I’m happy I can just contribute … a massive game [coming up against PSG] … surreal to be in it … obviously they’re one of the best teams in the world but we’re in the quarter-final for a reason.”
This could turn out to be a dress rehearsal for this season’s FA Cup final. Fans of Manchester City and Crystal Palace will understandably demur, but on this evidence you wouldn’t say no, would you? What a marvellously enjoyable match. Chances galore. You can make a genuine case for Villa deserving their victory. You could also make a proper argument for Forest deserving more, perhaps a draw or even a win themselves. There’d be merit to all three positions, with both sides bringing the fun. As it is, Villa move closer to the Champions League picture, while Forest lose a little ground on second-placed Arsenal, and leave the door ajar for Chelsea, City, Villa and Newcastle. Delight for Villa, who started so well, and when the sting of defeat eases, Forest will surely take heart from their determined attempt at a comeback. More, please!
FULL TIME: Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Villa get over the line! What a magnificently entertaining match.
90 min +3: A Forest corner comes in from the right. Williams shoots from the edge of a crowded box but can’t get anything behind it. That may well be that.
90 min +2: … and Villa are so close to number three! Rashford blazes past Milenkovic in a race after a long ball down the middle. He draws Sels and manages to force the ball past the keeper … but Sels gets something on it and is able to spin around and claw clear, just ahead of Rashford, who was hoping to bundle home!
90 min +1: In the first of four additional minutes, Murillo takes a touch in from the right and sends a rasping, rising drive across Martinez and towards the top left. The keeper’s beaten, but the ball pings off the top of the crossbar. So close to the equaliser!
90 min: Murillo sends another dangerous ball in from deep on the left. Gibbs-White can’t connect as he lunges in at the near post. Martinez can, though.
89 min: … Sels is forced to claw off his line, Rashford’s delivery nearly sneaking in at the near post.
88 min: … and that corner leads to yet another corner, from which …
87 min: McGinn wins a corner down the left. Rashford takes. The ball comes back at him. He cuts back for Tielemans, who slips a pass to Rogers, on the penalty spot. Rogers spins only for his shot to be deflected over the bar. Rashford to take another corner.
86 min: Martinez is booked for taking his sweet time over the restart.
85 min: Murillo, quarterbacking from a deep position on the left, curls a delicious cross onto Jota’s head, clear inside the box. Jota attempts to steer his header into the top left, but Martinez palms around the post, and then the flag goes up correctly for offside. Villa hearts in mouths for a nanosecond there.
84 min: Rogers is sent dribbling down the right by Rashford. A corner is won. It’s worked back to Maatsen, whose speculative effort sails apologetically wide right.
83 min: How on earth have there only been three goals? Both teams could feasibly have plundered a hatful. The scoreline could be anything. With apologies and the greatest respect to Manchester City and Crystal Palace … FA Cup final, please!
81 min: Williams dances in from the right and sends a low shot-cum-cross sailing through Villa’s six-yard box. Inches wide of the left-hand post. No team-mate on point to ram home. An extended leg away from a poked equaliser. For the want of a toenail.
79 min: Ramsey and Kamara nearly one-two their way free down the middle. It doesn’t quite come off, but that was nearly something. Rogers takes up the loose ball and cuts back from the right for Kamara, who leans back and hoicks over.
77 min: Murillo bursts down the left and feeds Sosa on the overlap. A cross. Gibbs-White flashes a header wide right. Then another attack, as Anderson sashays in from the left flank. Reaching the edge of the D, he should put Williams in down the right, but hammers a wild shot over the bar instead. Williams not particularly happy. The wrong choice, that’s for sure, though Anderson would doubtless argue that his glide infield was so sweet that he’d earned the right to have a pop.
75 min: Forest make a double change, replacing Morato and Dominguez with Boly and Sosa. Then McGinn announces himself with an attempt to burst through the middle, only to stand on the ball and slip over.
74 min: Now then, nobody’s perfect, not least your unreliable MBM scribe. Turns out Jota wasn’t booked for that cynical clip on Asensio on 55 minutes. We know this because he’s booked now, for a late clack on Konsa, and stays on the pitch. Ahem.
73 min: Asensio battles down the left before teeing up Tielemans, who larrups a shot towards the bottom left. Sels parries well. That’s Asensio’s last act of the evening, as he’s replaced by McGinn.
71 min: Hudson-Odoi curls in from the left. A dangerous-looking ball, but there’s nobody in baby blue chancing a run. Martinez claims. Then another wave of Forest attack, and Hudson-Odoi crosses again. Tielemans deals with it, but only just, slicing the ball away from danger, and from Jota. Forest really pushing for the equaliser.
69 min: Rashford attempts a curler into the top right. He finds the top right of the Holte End. Just beforehand, Kamara claimed a penalty, lightly shoved in the back by Anderson. But nobody’s interested in that.
68 min: This game is great end-to-end fun. If these lads contest the FA Cup final, we’ll be in for a treat.
67 min: Hudson-Odoi strides down the left and cuts back for Gibbs-White, who meets the ball on the edge of the D, on the stretch. His telescopic leg whips a shot inches wide right.
66 min: Murillo tries to win a header on the halfway line, but overcommits and suddenly Rogers is tearing off down the right. He’s got Rashford free in the middle, but wriggles away from Milenkovic and takes it on himself. But he can’t slip the ball past Sels, who sits on the ball. What a save!
64 min: Mings is forced to eyebrow a long ball behind for a corner. It comes in from the right by Anderson. Konsa flicks a header clear, but only to Williams out on the left. The ball’s swung in. Martinez catches and tries to bowl out quickly. Jota shoulder-barges him a couple fo times. The keeper turns and considers a rabbit punch into the gut, but opts for a simple shove instead. The referee comes across and reminds everyone of their ages. A more irritable referee may have issued a second yellow to Jota and a red for Martinez, but he stays cool and we stay 11 v 11.
62 min: Here comes that triple change. Watkins, Malen and Onana are replaced by Rashford, Ramsey and Kamara.
61 min: On the touchline, Unai Emery is beyond furious with his team. He’s jigging around with smoke pouring out of his lugs, and is preparing a triple change.
60 min: Forest go close again! Hudson-Odoi cuts back from the byline on the left, Anderson fizzing a fierce shot inches wide right. Villa suddenly on the rack.
59 min: … and they nearly complete a double whammy of their own, but Tielemans intervenes when Anderson was preparing to poke home another Williams cross from the left. Nothing comes of the resulting corner.
58 min: That took a slight deflection, but it was a very decent strike nonetheless. Forest deserve their goal. They’ve been the better side since the restart.
GOAL! Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest (Jota 57)
Williams crosses low from the left. Jota takes the ball away from Anderson, who was preparing to shoot from the spot. A mistake? Nope! He nudges the ball to the left before swivelling and planting a shot across Martinez and into the bottom right. Forest back in it after all!
55 min: Jota clips Asensio, super-late, with the whistle already gone. That’s a saucy one. He’s booked for his cheek.
54 min: … and now Hudson-Odoi cuts in from the left and lashes a low shot wide right. Not far away, that. Forest are much improved, and should be on the scoresheet, back in the game.
53 min: Gibbs-White shovels a diagonal pass over the Villa back line for Hudson-Odoi, free in the box down the left. Villa wait for the offside flag, but Mings is playing him on. Hudson-Odoi cuts back for Williams, who takes a touch on the penalty spot and should score … but blazes wide right. What a chance!
51 min: London Buses latest. Asensio hangs a leg across Williams and there’s the second yellow card of the evening.
49 min: Morato earns the first yellow card of the contest, cynically checking Malen who was in the process of tearing past him down the left.
48 min: Anderson is skittled out on the left flank by Onana. From the resulting free kick, Williams attempts to score from 35 yards. Full marks for ambition, if nothing else.
46 min: Jota is immediately in the thick of the action, battling for a long ball down the middle, then attempting a dribble from wide right. Nuno may just have given his players the what-for.
Villa get the second half started. They’ve replaced Garcia with Konsa. Meanwhile Forest have sent on Jota in place of Elanga. “It’ll be interesting to see if Forest can chase the match down,” begins Kári Tulinius. “I suspect that Nuno will tell his players not to leave too much space for the Villains to run into, but there’s only so careful you can be when you’re two goals behind. As a neutral, I hope for an early goal to give Nottingham a rush of energy.”
Half-time postbag … and the presence in the preamble of the greatest TV ident in All History has sent Simon McMahon into a nostalgic reverie. “Villa and Forest two of the top clubs in England. Ideological leaders, economic turmoil, the ever-present threat of nuclear armageddon. Climate breakdown, trouble in Middle East. Thank god we’ve moved on since 1981, eh?”
Meanwhile Peter Oh adds: “It’s strange to see Forest lumbering about like this, without Wood.”
Zoom 2, though, eh? The best work Angela Morley ever did, and that includes the theme to Hancock’s Half Hour and Scott 4.
HALF TIME: Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Villa flew out of the traps and have been largely excellent. Forest haven’t looked their usual solid selves at the back, though they’ve threatened to burst into attacking life. A few things for Nuno to sort out during the break.
45 min +1: Williams crosses long from the left. Dominguez wins a header at the far stick but can only slap it harmlessly at Martinez.
45 min: Yates curls in from the right. Elanga telescopes a leg but can’t control. Had he managed to kill the ball, he’d have been free down the inside-right channel, one on one in the box with Martinez.
43 min: Gibbs-White strides down the left and wins a corner, but then the flag pops up for offside. Martinez hasn’t yet had to make a proper save.
41 min: Murillo and Dominguez, playing out from the back at half speed and not quite on the same wavelength, are nearly embarrassed by Maatsen, who arrives on the scene at pace and briefly threatens to scoot into the box. The sleepy Forest pair are fortunate that Maatsen takes a heavy touch, and Murillo can make up for his role in the unfolding scene by blocking and clearing.
40 min: Hudson-Odoi cuts a ball back from the right. Yates sidefoots powerfully towards goal, but straight at Martinez.
39 min: Tielemans crosses low from the left. Milenkovic shanks clear. The ball pings off the corner flag and stays in play. Tielemans tries again but can’t beat the first man. Villa stepping it up again after those aforementioned quiet ten minutes.
37 min: Watkins has the chance to send Malen free down the left, but carelessly clanks his pass straight into the nearest blue shirt.
36 min: Asensio aims the free kick towards the top left, but it’s too close to Sels, who claims without fuss.
35 min: Murillo has a nibble at Rogers, testing the referee’s patience. Just a lecture. Then Anderson carelessly clips Onana’s ankle, with the Villa midfielder running away from the danger zone and going nowhere. Now it’s a free kick in a dangerous position, just to the right of the Forest D.
33 min: Forest have managed to calm things down a bit. They’ve shown some promise in attack, while Villa haven’t created anything for ten minutes or so. Given how the game started, that’s decent progress.
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2025-04-05 15:36:29