Awoniyi benched as Elanga’s late goal completes Nottingham Forest’s comeback against Aston Villa

Villa were heading into the game looking comfortable after their 3-2 victory in Germany against Leipzig.

However, they were unable to build on their UEFA Champions League victory and suffered a 2-1 defeat to Forest.

Nuno Espirito Santo made one change to the Nottingham Forest side that defeated Manchester United last Saturday. Ola Aina retained his place, while Taiwo Awoniyi was left on the bench.

Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran made a consecutive start for the first time in the Premier League with Ollie Watkins on the bench.

The first half failed to produce any goal as both teams played cautiously until the halftime whistle. 

However, in the second half, Aston Villa scored the first goal of the game after John McGinn made a deftly flicked cross to the path of Jhon Duran, who planted a brilliant header into the back of the net.

Nottingham Forest pushed forward after conceding the first goal and got the equaliser only to be ruled out for offside.

However, shortly after their goal was disallowed, Forest hit again and got the equaliser. Nikola Milenkovic did well to meet a cross from Morgan Gibbs-White inside the box and produced a stunning header that went into the net.

Aston Villa thought they had secured a draw, but a late goal from Elanga killed the visitor's hopes and completed the comeback for the host.