April 08, (THEWILL) – Aston Villa secured a 2-0 victory against Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League on Saturday, thanks to goals from Bertrand Traore and Ollie Watkins.
After a quiet first half, Traore found the back of the net just three minutes into the second half. His goal was followed by relentless pressure from Forest, giving Villa plenty of opportunities to counterattack, with Watkins capitalising on one of these opportunities to score the second goal in injury time.
Traore’s goal was his second in as many games for Villa since being recalled from a loan spell in Turkey by manager Unai Emery. Meanwhile, Forest’s performance was lacklustre and the introduction of Taiwo Awoniyi in the 65th minute did not change their fortunes. Their best chance came in the 76th minute, but the excellent Villa keeper, Emiliano Martinez, was equal to the task.
Villa’s fourth league win in a row places them sixth in the table, keeping them on track for a place in Europe next season. Meanwhile, Forest’s ninth game without a victory has seen them drop to 18th on 27 points and back down into the relegation zone.
The two teams face different levels of opposition in their next matches, with Aston Villa playing against Newcastle on Saturday, while Nottingham Forest will face Manchester United on Sunday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
