EPL: Forest Snatch Win At Villa With Late Goal To Stun Home Crowd

Emery’s Villa hit new low as Forest claim first win under Glasner  

Oliver Glasner gets first Forest win as late Jesus strike downs Villa 2-1. Villa drop to relegation zone after third straight home defeat.  

Late Jesus winner ends 31-year wait for Forest at Villa Park... 

Nottingham Forest earned their first win under Oliver Glasner at the fifth attempt, beating Aston Villa 2-1 in the Premier League. It was also their first away victory over Villa in any competition since 1994.  

Villa came into the game off a midweek European win and were looking to get going in the league. They almost led inside seven minutes when Victor Lindelof volleyed at goal after Forest failed to clear a corner, but Matz Sels produced a superb point-blank save.  

Clear chances were scarce in the first half, which wasn’t a surprise given the two teams had scored just two goals between them in the opening three matchdays.

Villa fans’ mood darkened further on 25 minutes when Pau Torres had to go off injured.  

The game burst into life a minute after the break as Liam Delap scored his first goal for Forest.  

The summer signing picked up the ball 25 yards out, drove forward and smashed a low shot into the bottom-left corner, leaving Zion Suzuki with no chance.  

Glasner’s side pressed on after going ahead and went close again, only for Ndoye to nod wide from a promising position.

Forest were dominant and Villa were struggling, and Delap thought he had a second after muscling past Lindelof and finishing, but the goal was ruled out for offside.  

Unai Emery looked to his bench to spark a response, bringing on debutants Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye.  

The two new arrivals linked up right away to lift the home crowd, but Mbaye couldn’t convert after Manzambi played him in.  

The subs did the job though and swung momentum back to Villa. Another replacement, Alysson, leveled things with a brilliant header into the bottom-right corner from John McGinn’s cross — Villa’s first Premier League goal of the season.  

Delap remained a threat and fired narrowly wide from outside the box. Villa were then left exposed with 10 men after Maatsen’s injury forced them to finish with no subs left, and Forest made them pay with a late second.

Forest’s winner came from substitute Igor Jesus, who turned in Morgan Gibbs-White’s cutback to find the left corner for his first goal of the season.

The win gets Forest off the mark under Glasner, who is still unbeaten in eight managerial meetings with Villa.

Igor Jesus' late goal wins it for @NFFC at Villa Park! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/DeofTfPq3c

— Premier League (@premierleague) September 12, 2026

Villa’s problems at home continued with a third defeat in a row, leaving them still in the drop zone.