Premier League: McGinn’s brace leads Aston Villa past Nottingham Forest

LONDON: Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at Villa Park on Saturday to ease the pain of its midweek mauling by Arsenal, leapfrogging Manchester City into second place in the Premier League.

Ollie Watkins’ strike on the cusp of half-time gave Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead and John McGinn grabbed a second early in the second period.

Morgan Gibbs-White pulled a goal back for the visitor but McGinn took advantage of an error by Forest goalkeeper John Victor to restore Villa’s two-goal lead.

Villa’s 11-game winning streak in all competitions was brought to a shuddering halt with a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates on Tuesday, raising doubts about its ability to maintain a title charge.

But its impressive record at Villa Park remains intact -- it has now won 11 straight matches since a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.

Villa started brightly on a bitingly cold day in Birmingham and was denied an early opener when Victor saved a Watkins shot from point-blank range with his legs.

Sean Dyche’s Forest, which came into the match on a three-match losing run, struggled to gain a foothold but the home side failed to take advantage of its dominance in a tepid first half.

The away team came close to taking the lead with its first shot on target when Emi Martinez was forced to dive to his right to deny Omari Hutchinson.

But the in-form Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead in the closing moments of a half in which it enjoyed nearly 80 percent possession. The England man received the ball outside of the area from Morgan Rogers and slammed home for his fourth goal in three games.

McGinn doubled Villa’s lead in the 49th minute, side-footing into the net after a Matty Cash cross.

Villa appeared to be cruising towards all three points, but Forest was back in the game in the 61st minute courtesy of a fine finish from Gibbs-White, who chipped past the diving Martinez.

But Villa was gifted a third goal in the 73rd minute when Victor inexplicably vacated his goalmouth to try to reach a long ball from Youri Tielemans even though there were defenders nearby.

Scotland midfielder McGinn collected the ball and remained cool, sidestepping Victor and stroking the ball into the empty net with his left foot from well outside the area.

The win leaves Villa on 42 points, three behind leader Arsenal, and one ahead of City.

Wolverhampton Wanderers beat West Ham 3-0 on Saturday for its first win of the Premier League 2025-26 season.

Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-Chan, and Mateus Mane found the net for the Midlands club, which, despite the win, stays bottom of the standings with six points from 20 games.

Before the match, Wolves had lost 16 and drawn three. It was on an 11-match losing streak before playing out a 1-1 draw against Manchester United earlier this week.

Like Wolves, West Ham also face the threat of relegation currently. The loss, its 12th of the season, keeps it in 18th place with 14 points from 20 outings. Agencies

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