Aston Villa Forest
Aston Villa lost 2-1 to Forest
Aheed Abrar
Sat 14 December 2024 19:52, UK
Aston Villa crashed to a 2-1 defeat against Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday.
Unai Emery’s team visited the City Ground on 14 December and took the lead through Jhon Duran after a real battle in the first hour.
Chris Wood’s header was then ruled out by VAR after Anthony Elanga was ruled offside in the build-up, but minutes later, Nikola Milenkovic headed home the equaliser.
Forest eventually got the winner through Elanga in second-half stoppage time.
Villa News have handed out player ratings for the fixture, with stats provided by FotMob.
Emi Martinez — 7
After an uneventful first half, the World Cup winner continued to be solid in between the sticks for the Lions, doing the basics right and getting the ball whenever called upon, making three high claims and completing 94 per cent of his passes. He pulled off a miraculous save and stopped another fearsome strike from Neco Williams. But the Argentine made a faltering error for the Milenkovic goal.
Emi Martinez
Aston Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez (credit: Imago)
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Ezri Konsa — 7
The England international won most of his challenges when needed, winning six of his eight duels and making one block. Despite that, Forest snatched the three points.
Diego Carlos — 4
With the Brazilian starting again at the back, Emery seems to have found his preferred backline, but it remains to be seen whether the Spanish manager will have a rethink after the loss, with the centre-back winning just 33 per cent of his aerial duels.
Pau Torres — 5
The 27-year-old was his calm and composed self on the ball but only won 33 per cent of his aerial duels and couldn’t do anything at the end when he was needed the most.
Lucas Digne — 4
With the Frenchman expected to contribute in defence and attack, the left-back did the latter well, putting in some threatening crosses, but lost 75 per cent of his ground duels. He was caught out on occasions defensively and almost was at fault for conceding after Elanga got the better of him.
Youri Tielemans — 7
The midfielder kept the team ticking with 85 per cent passing accuracy, playing three passes into the final third and creating one chance without setting the world alight.
Boubacar Kamara — 6
It looks like the 25-year-old has returned renewed after his injury, helping keep the defence solid, with four clearances, one interception and five recoveries. Despite all of that, Milenkovic got the better of him for the goal.
Matty Cash falters in Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa
Matty Cash
Aston Villa full-back Matty Cash. [Credit: Imago]
Matty Cash — 3
Emery continued the experiment with the Poland international on the right wing, but he couldn’t do much, registering an xG of 0.03, completing 33 per cent of his dribbles and was caught offside and dispossessed once, leading to the winning goal for Forest – nowhere near strong enough.
Morgan Rogers — 4
A foul on the Englishman should’ve resulted in a penalty for the Lions, but his overall display was underwhelming, with 77 per cent passing accuracy, 33 per cent successful dribbles and a combined xG and xA of 0.08.
John McGinn — 8
Villa’s captain was their best player on the pitch, setting up Duran’s header with a brilliant pass and creating four chances throughout the match.
Jhon Duran — 7
Having pipped Ollie Watkins for a place in the starting lineup, the Colombian found the back of the net once again with a brilliant header despite not doing much in the 73 minutes he was on the pitch, completing just 50 per cent of his passes.
Substitutes:
Ollie Watkins — 4
Amadou Onana — 5
Ross Barkley — 5
Ian Maatsen — 5
In other Aston Villa news, Emi Beundia’s exit is on the cards ahead of the January transfer window.
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