Villa’s first league goal of the season came in the 74th minute, and Forest won it in the 88th
Nottingham Forest had not won at Villa Park since 1994 and had not won at all this season. Igor Jesus settled both questions in the 88th minute, against ten men.
Sep 13, 2026
Aston Villa had not scored a Premier League goal all season. They finally got one in the 74th minute on Saturday, and they had lost the match 14 minutes later. Nottingham Forest won 2-1 at Villa Park on 12 September, their first win there since 1994 and their first win of any kind this season. Unai Emery’s side sit 19th with a single point from four games.
Delap needed 45 seconds of the second half
The first half went the way Emery wanted it to. Villa had the ball, Forest sat off, and the closest anyone came to a goal was Victor Lindelof inside the opening ten minutes, when his effort came back off the post and Matz Sels scrambled the follow-up off the line. Replays suggested a good deal of the ball had been over it. No goal was given.
Then Forest kicked off the second half and scored with their first attack. Liam Delap picked the ball up 25 yards out and hit it, about 45 seconds after the restart. It was his first goal for the club, and it was not a bad way to open an account.
Emery’s substitutes dragged Villa level
Emery went to the bench on 64 minutes for Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye, and the game shifted. John McGinn got to the byline, and Alysson met the cross with a header for his first goal in a Villa shirt. It was also the club’s first league goal of the campaign, which tells you most of what you need to know about how the season has gone so far.
For about six minutes Villa Park sounded like a ground expecting to win. Then Ian Maatsen went down under a challenge from James McAtee on 80 minutes and could not carry on. Emery had used every substitute. Villa played out the closing stretch with ten men.
Igor Jesus made the numbers count
Forest moved the ball right, Morgan Gibbs-White flicked it into the space nobody was covering, and Igor Jesus rolled it in on 88 minutes. Villa had no way back and barely any legs left to try.
Emery was still angry about the tackle afterwards. “The injury of Ian Maatsen was a key moment because the tackle was strong,” he told Sky Sports. “We were finishing the last 15 minutes with one player less for one tackle and they were playing with 11. For me, VAR should be there. I think it’s a red card.”
Glasner has Emery’s number and refuses to enjoy it
This was Oliver Glasner’s first win as Forest manager, and his eighth match against Emery without defeat. He was asked about that record and went straight to the trophy cabinet instead.
“I spoke to him before the game, and it’s still 5-2 for him, five European trophies to two,” Glasner said. “So I said to myself, ‘Oliver Glasner, stay humble’. And this is how I will stay. Every win is great, but I didn’t play one second today.”
Where it leaves both of them
Forest climb to 11th on five points, which for a team that had drawn two and lost one before Saturday is a respectable return from a squad still learning a new manager’s ideas.
Villa are a harder read. Emery spent the summer losing senior players and is rebuilding with signings who have barely had time to learn each other’s names, and four league games have produced one goal and one point. They won in the Champions League at Club Brugge on 8 September. They are in the relegation zone this morning. Both of those things are true at once, and only one of them is going to matter by Christmas.