Nottingham Forest Ends 32-Year Wait for Aston Villa Win
Igor Jesus struck in the 88th minute to give Nottingham Forest their first win at Aston Villa in 32 years and deepen the sense of unease around Unai Emery’s side.
The substitute reacted quickest in a crowded box, stabbing home to seal Oliver Glasner’s first victory as Forest head coach and leave Villa still hunting a first Premier League win of the season.
Forest seize their moment
Forest had earned the right to win it late. They were sharper, more cohesive, and far more convincing in both boxes.
Liam Delap, a £50m summer signing from Chelsea, had already marked his Forest league debut with his first goal since January. It was a big moment for a forward whose fee and recent drought have hung over him. The finish carried the release of a player desperate to start again.
Villa did respond. Alysson grabbed their first Premier League goal of the campaign to drag them level, briefly lifting the mood inside Villa Park. But it was a flicker, not a turning point. For long stretches, Forest controlled the tempo and the territory, and Villa never truly shook off the tension.
Villa’s struggles laid bare
The tone of the afternoon was set early. Villa’s best opening came from chaos rather than craft: Victor Lindelof’s effort took a heavy deflection off Murillo, forcing Sels into a sharp save that pushed the ball on to the post. Murillo’s clearance fell straight back to Lindelof, whose instinctive follow-up was again smothered by the Forest goalkeeper.
It felt like a let-off for Forest. It also felt like the kind of scrambled chance a team short on rhythm creates.
Clear opportunities for Villa were rare. Emery’s side looked disjointed, their patterns broken, their pressing half a beat off. The head coach has spoken repeatedly about patience after a turbulent summer rebuild, but patience is always thinner in the stands than in the press room.
Nothing underlined the current uncertainty more than half-time. Emery hauled off £65m record signing Nicolas Jackson at the interval, sending on Tammy Abraham – a player he had been prepared to move on in the summer. It was a blunt message: the new project is nowhere near fully formed.
The change did not transform Villa. The 3-2 Champions League win at Club Brugge had hinted at attacking promise and briefly raised expectations, but domestically the cohesion simply is not there yet.
Glasner’s hold over Emery continues
On the opposite bench, Glasner looked the more settled figure. After sturdy draws against Liverpool and Tottenham, this performance suggested his ideas are starting to bed in at Forest.
The Austrian also has a personal edge in this duel. Since Glasner arrived at Crystal Palace in February 2024, Emery has yet to beat him. Glasner’s Palace side won 3-0 at Villa Park at the start of last season; the margin was slimmer this time, but again his team deserved the points.
Forest’s structure without the ball, their aggression in midfield, and their willingness to commit numbers forward once spaces opened up all carried his imprint. The late winner felt like the logical conclusion to a game they had largely controlled, not a smash-and-grab.
For Emery, the narrative is turning. He can point to the volume of tactical information his players must absorb, the upheaval of the summer, the time needed for automatisms to click. All of that may be true. Yet Villa Park is already restless, and Jesus’ late strike only amplifies the questions.
Forest, by contrast, walk away with belief swelling. Glasner has his first win of the campaign, a landmark away victory, and a squad beginning to trust the plan. How far can that momentum carry them?
