Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest: Traore and Watkins strikes boost European hopes of hosts

In front of the future King, Steve Cooper was left fearing that his reign as Nottingham Forest manager was about to come to an end with his team slipping into the bottom three.

The Prince of Wales is a keen Aston Villa fan and was in the directors’ box to watch Unai Emery’s team make it six wins from seven and strengthen their push for European football – a remarkable achievement given Villa were in relegation trouble.

There has been no such bounce for Cooper, who was told via a statement by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis only that he ‘remains in charge’ but that performances and results had to improve. 

Though Forest put up a better fight here than in many fixtures away from the City Ground, they offered very little in attack and fell to a dreadful defensive mistake early in the second half, which allowed Villa substitute Bertrand Traore to score the only goal. 

Ollie Watkins continued his fabulous run of form with the second in stoppage time.

Aston Villa continued their charge towards securing European football next season

Bertrand Traore opened the scoring with a curled effort past Keylor Navas in the 48th minute

The goal was greeted with delight by Prince William and son George from inside Villa Park

Cooper performed a near miracle last season by leading Forest to promotion after they were bottom of the Championship when he took over. 

He has made a good fist of trying to build a team from a completely revamped squad but when Marinakis spent £160million on 30 players, he did not foresee a run of nine games without a win – the longest streak in the division – at the crucial part of the season.

So much about Forest’s recruitment and planning has been confusing but how about this: when they needed a goal, Jesse Lingard remained on the bench. Why impose a player on a manager, making him the club’s top earner on £120,000 a week, if the manager does not trust him? Why sign a players like Jonjo Shelvey on a hefty contract when he is clearly past his prime? With so much at stake, such scattergun tactics are unforgivable.

Villa have been through this before but the stars have now aligned at Villa Park. Under a proven manager, this team are flying and though they have a tough run of fixtures to come, Emery has his eyes firmly on Europe. Don’t forget the Spaniard has won the Europa League four times as a coach.

To add insult to injury, Forest finished the game with 10 men. Moussa Niakhate was unable to continue after taking a knock and Cooper had already used the allotted three windows in which to make substitutions.

Not surprisingly given their form on the road, Cooper’s men looked nervous early on. In the second minute Moussa Niakhate’s clearance rebounded off Ashley Young and broke to Ollie Watkins, who was close to making it nine goals in 11 games with an angled effort that flashed wide.

Then Shelvey was lucky not to be booked for a dreadful challenge from behind on Emi Buendia.

After that, Forest settled. After months of using a back four, Cooper changed the system and the visitors looked compact in their 3-4-2-1 shape. Villa did not create an opening until midway through the half, when Leon Bailey ran on to Young’s clipped pass and squared for Watkins, though Forest did well to limit the forward’s space and the chance was wasted.

That was Bailey’s final contribution as he was replaced by Bertrand Traore with what appeared to be a hamstring injury.

Shortly after the half-hour mark, Forest pushed forward. Danilo released Brennan Johnson but from the cut-back, Morgan Gibbs-White took an air shot. Moments later, Forest lost midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate – fit again only recently – to another injury.

Shelvey was doubly thankful to referee Anthony Taylor for letting him off for the tackle on Buendia, when he was shown a yellow card for a similarly clumsy challenge on Alex Moreno. In the final minute of the half, Moreno escaped on the left, Watkins failed to connect with the cross and Traore put his volley into the Holte End.

Villa striker Ollie Watkins sealed the victory with his ninth goal in the last 11 games

Watkins chipped the ball over Forest goalkeeper Navas in the final minute of added time

Three minutes after half-time, though, Traore did make his mark. The forward found space behind Neco Williams and when Navas palmed the cross into the danger zone, Shelvey bizarrely steered it straight back to Traore. The Villa man did the rest and Emery’s men were off and running.

Forest tried to respond instantly. Gibbs-White cut in from the left and saw his effort blocked by Watkins and out for a corner. Danilo weaved his way to the edge of the box and looked for the corner with an effort that did not worry Emi Martinez.

Villa nearly finished it when Moreno, who had been impressive in stages, accelerated beyond Williams and picked out Buendia, whose first-team effort flew wide from close range. The Argentine should have hit the target but he need not have worried. Forest were never going to be able to make him pay.

Watkins added the decisive touch when he took a return pass from Ramsey and clipped the ball beyond Navas. Cooper looked forlorn on the touchline. Now the waiting begins.