Villa fell Forest to ease pain of Arsenal rout

AFP | London

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Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at their home fortress yesterday to ease the pain of their midweek mauling by Arsenal, leapfrogging Manchester City into second place in the Premier League.

Ollie Watkins’ strike on the cusp of half-time  gave Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead and John McGinn grabbed a second early in the second period.

Morgan Gibbs-White pulled a goal back for the visitors but McGinn took advantage of a brain freeze by Forest goalkeeper John Victor to restore Villa’s two-goal lead.

Villa’s 11-game winning streak in all competitions was brought to a shuddering halt with a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates on Tuesday, raising doubts about their ability to maintain a title charge.

But their impressive record at Villa Park remains intact -- they have now won 11 straight matches since a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.

Villa started brightly on a bitingly cold day in Birmingham and were denied an early opener when Victor saved a Watkins shot from point-blank range with his legs.

Sean Dyche’s Forest, who came into the match on a three-match losing run, struggled to gain a foothold but the home side failed to take advantage of their dominance in a tepid first half.

The away team came close to taking the lead with their first shot on target when Emi Martinez was forced to dive to his right to deny Omari Hutchinson.

But the in-form Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead in the closing moments of a half in which they enjoyed nearly 80 percent possession.

The England man received the ball outside of the area from Morgan Rogers and slammed home for his fourth goal in three games.

McGinn doubled Villa’s lead in the 49th minute, side-footing into the net after a Matty Cash cross.