Aston Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest is the scoreline that finally ends the wait. Igor Jesus came off the bench to settle it late at Villa Park on Saturday, handing Oliver Glasner his first win as Forest head coach and the Reds their first three points of 2026/27.
Glasner went in without Nikola Milenkovic and Jair Cunha, neither risked with hamstring tightness, which meant first Premier League starts for Ousmane Diomande and Daniel Muñoz and Ola Aina shifted across as the right-sided centre-back. That makeshift back line survived a ragged opening: Matz Sels twice denied Victor Lindelof and Murillo cleared onto his own post, as the Guardian’s report from Villa Park described it.
How Aston Villa 1-2 Nottingham Forest was won
Forest needed 45 seconds of the second half. Murillo won the ball off Emiliano Buendía, Liam Delap jinked away from Ross Barkley and lashed in from 25 yards for his first goal for the club. Dan Ndoye passed up a hat-trick of chances, Delap headed into the side netting and had another effort ruled out for offside on 65 minutes.
Alysson, a half-time substitute, headed Villa level on 74. Rather than settle, Glasner sent on Igor Jesus, and the Brazilian read a Morgan Gibbs-White backheel to finish a move Muñoz had helped build, per the Nottingham Post’s coverage.
Forest travel home with five points from four games. Villa are still without a league win.
