Igor Jesus and Liam Delap strike for Forest to deepen Aston Villa’s woes

This summer there were a couple of significant pieces of the puzzle for Oliver Glasner to put into place at Nottingham Forest. The first was a mobile striker to lead the line, and the other was a wing-back to fit his favoured 3-4-3 system. Enter Liam Delap and Daniel Munoz, both of whom had a big say in Forest’s first win of the season, though the match-winner was one of the old guard in Igor Jesus. Delap registered his first Forest goal in style, a powerful shot from 25 yards and Munoz was involved in the slick move that saw Igor Jesus read Morgan Gibbs-White’s exquisite backheel to defeat Aston Villa, who remain winless in the Premier League.

Unai Emery hoped a Champions League victory at Club Brugge on Tuesday would be the catalyst to ignite their Premier League campaign but Igor Jesus clinched victory late on, after Alysson, a half-time substitute, headed in the equaliser. Emery introduced Ibrahim Mbaye and Johan Manzambi for their Villa debuts just after the hour but it was Forest’s £45m record signing Delap who ended the game victorious, this a typically boisterous display from the former Chelsea striker. Glasner tried to sign Delap for Crystal Palace last summer and finally has his man.

For so long it seemed Villa would be left to ruminate on the few clear chances they created, chiefly the slapstick episode that saw Matz Sels somehow deny Victor Lindelof and Murillo smacking his attempted clearance against his own post. Sels denied Lindelof with his feet and after the ball cannoned off a post the Sweden defender side-footed the rebound into the goalkeeper’s face. Lindelof had scored one goal in almost six years, the last against Luton for Manchester United in November 2023.

Villa were rattled by Forest seizing the lead 45 seconds into the second half. Murillo dispossessed Emiliano Buendia, snapping into a challenge after Boubacar Kamara’s flick and then Delap jinked clear of Ross Barkley. Delap’s next couple of touches took the ball out of his feet, dribbling diagonally across the pitch, before sending a stinging right-foot shot into the Villa net.

Emery sent on Mbaye and Manzambi in place of Buendia and Barkley, culpable for Delap’s goal and both of whom found the going tough, but their arrivals did not bring instant success. Instead Delap thought he had doubled his tally, only for the offside flag and a subsequent VAR check to show he strayed offside when latching on to Morgan Gibbs-White’s neat cross . A few moments earlier Tyrone Mings, a first-half substitute for the injured Pau Torres, made a desperate block to thwart Dan Ndoye after superb holdup play by Delap.

Villa levelled on 74 minutes, the 20-year-old winger Alysson, a January signing from Gremio, feasting on some slack marking after a short-corner routine. John McGinn, the Villa captain, floated a dainty right-foot cross in from the left flank and Alysson eluded Murillo to send a header past a hapless Sels. A powerful Mbaye strike, kept out by Sels, was the catalyst for the corner.

Glasner had been readying Igor Jesus when Villa scored but the striker still arrived to replace Ndoye. Villa Park was primed for a big finale but Forest also roused. Zion Suzuki clambered down to his right to keep out Xaver Schlager’s header and then Igor Jesus popped up to strike the winner. Munoz exchanged passes with Gibbs-White, who eliminated three Villa defenders with a sumptuous flick before Igor Jesus coolly rolled the ball past Suzuki. Glasner whirled around on the touchline wagging his index finger and the celebrations continued in the away end long after the final whistle.