Aston Villa Faces Tough Start After Nottingham Forest Defeat
Tyrone Mings stayed down at full-time, sunk into the Villa Park turf as the noise swirled around him. Nobody ever promised this would be smooth.
Aston Villa’s 2-1 home defeat to Nottingham Forest leaves Unai Emery staring at a brutal start: three losses in four league games, questions piling up after a summer rebuild, and a table that could look even uglier by Sunday night. If Coventry beat Brighton, Villa will be bottom.
The echoes are uncomfortable. This is the fourth time Villa have opened a top-flight campaign without a win in their first four fixtures, matching 1992-93, 1997-98 and 2025-26. It also mirrors last season’s sluggish beginning – but the campaign that finished with fourth place in the Premier League and a Europa League trophy feels a world away now.
Forest seize their moment
For Oliver Glasner, this was different. A first win as Forest boss, and one that came at a ground where his new club had not tasted league victory since 1994. A late Igor Jesus winner extended his unbeaten run against Emery to eight games and will rank among his most satisfying results in English football.
Forest earned it. They were sharper, braver and more dangerous. Liam Delap, reborn and relentless, struck just 45 seconds into the second half, burying Villa’s tentative grip on the contest. He bullied a patched-up home defence, scored once, had another ruled out and finished the afternoon as a constant menace.
Villa did briefly stir. Brazilian forward Alysson, on for his first meaningful Premier League moment, glanced in John McGinn’s cross to level against the run of play. The goal ended a drought of 372 league minutes without scoring and, for a flicker, Villa Park believed the old script might return – equaliser, surge, late winner.
It never came.
Instead, Forest grew stronger. They finished with 22 shots and 32 touches in the Villa box, numbers that underlined how thoroughly they controlled the second half. Jesus’ decisive strike, nipping in ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka with two minutes left, felt inevitable by then.
Injuries, anger and a bench that didn’t bite
By the time Jesus struck, Villa were down to 10 men. Ian Maatsen had already limped off with what looked a serious ankle injury, and Emery had used all his substitutes. The left-back’s absence only deepened the defensive crisis after Pau Torres was forced off in the first half, leaving Villa’s backline threadbare and their shape disjointed.
There is real concern Maatsen could be out for a while. That would fast-track new signing Matteo Ruggeri into a central role, probably earlier and more often than Emery would have liked.
Emery’s frustration went beyond the injury list. He was adamant James McAtee should have been sent off for the tackle that floored Maatsen.
“After watching it on TV, I think the VAR should call the referee because it's a clear tackle behind the player and, for me, it should be a red card,” he said. “Of course, they deserved it, but the decision of the referee should be different… He didn't want to injure our player but if we can watch it through the TV, it's a VAR action… maybe finishing with 10 v 10 was maybe different in the match.”
He refused to hide behind it, though.
“We played so so poor in the second half,” he admitted. “This is our work and our responsibility, or my responsibility.”
The selection calls around that “work” will not escape scrutiny. Taylor Harwood-Bellis, signed for £30m, was left out of the squad again despite the defensive crisis. He will expect his chance when Villa travel to Coventry in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before heading to Tottenham.
Further forward, the attack misfired again. Nicolas Jackson, booked early, was hauled off at half-time because Emery feared the striker would see red. On came Tammy Abraham – a player Villa tried to move on in the summer – but he could not tilt the game.
Alysson’s goal aside, Villa created almost nothing of substance. Their best opening came from a chaotic scramble when Victor Lindelof somehow failed to score, denied in turn by Matz Sels, Murillo and the post. That summed up their afternoon: effort, noise, then nothing.
Big-money signings Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye, who cost a combined £98m, were introduced after the break but made no real impact. Alejandro Garnacho, on loan from Chelsea, watched it all from the bench again, still unable to convince Emery he deserves minutes.
Fortress no more
Villa Park used to intimidate. For a year, it almost guaranteed points. They went 12 months without a home league defeat before Glasner’s former club Crystal Palace turned up last August and won 3-0. Since then, the aura has crumbled.
Palace returned in the Carabao Cup and won 2-1. Last season, Villa lost four of their final 15 home league games and often needed late goals to salvage or steal results against Leeds, Brighton and Sunderland. Newcastle then arrived in the FA Cup and left with a 3-1 win, exposing cracks that have widened this season.
The new campaign has brought a 1-0 opening-day defeat to champions Arsenal and now this loss to Forest. The North Stand redevelopment has reduced capacity and left one end without fans, and the squad has been reshaped after several key departures, but the drop-off at home has moved from concern to alarm.
This is the same pitch where Villa routed Forest in the Europa League semi-final and smashed four past Liverpool to clinch a Champions League place. The same stands that roared them into Europe now feel muted, waiting to be convinced again.
Emery searching for answers
So often under Emery, an equaliser has signalled the start of the onslaught. Not here. After Alysson’s header, Villa lost control instead of seizing it. Forest sensed it and pushed. Villa retreated and wilted.
“I don't know why,” Emery admitted. “I want to see the match again and to understand why we lost our shape.”
That line will linger. For so long, Emery has been the man with the answers at Villa, the coach who fixed problems on the fly and turned a drifting side into a Champions League team and European champions. Now, four games into a new season, he is the one searching.
The fixture list offers little kindness: Coventry away in the cup, then Tottenham, then more tests for a squad still trying to work out who it is without some of last season’s pillars.
Villa have been here before, slow out of the blocks and forced to chase. The difference now is expectation. After what they achieved last season, how long will patience hold if this slump at Villa Park becomes the new normal rather than a painful blip?
