Unai Emery’s Aston Villa extended their winning streak to seven matches across all competitions after bagging maximum points over Champions League-chasing Nottingham Forest.
Nottingham Forest were without Super Eagles duo Taiwo Awoniyi and Ola Aina as they suffered their third League loss in seven matches.
A game of two halves with the home side dominant in the first half as they took a two-goal lead into the break.
Matz Sels pulled off a brilliant save to deny a ferocious strike from Dutch defender Ian Maatsen in the opening minutes.
Morgan Rodgers gave Aston the lead 13 minutes into the match. The English midfielder powered a low drive into goal from Youri Tielemanns’ pass.
Donyell Malen doubled the lead from close range two minutes later from his Dutch teammate Ian Maatsen.
Anthony Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi had chances to bring Nottingham Forest back into the game but their efforts went wide off target.
However, Neco Williams pulled one back for the visitors as his deflected shot in the 57th minute went past a helpless Emiliano Martinez.
Nico Williams missed a golden opportunity to equalize for the Tricky Trees as his shot from a brilliant interchange of passes went narrowly off-target.
Murillo came close to get the equalizer for Nottingham Forest late in the game but his long-range strike went off the post.
Aston Villa held on and secured maximum points to move to the sixth spot on the log while Nottingham Forest remain third on the log despite the loss.
