JHON DURAN handed himself a belated birthday present to fire Villa in front.
But it was Nikola Milenkovic and Anthony Elanga who provided the icing on the cake with a deadly late double for Forest!
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Unai Emery‘s men thought they had the three points all wrapped up when Duran bulleted a header from John McGinn‘s cross beyond Matz Sels, one day after celebrating his 21st birthday.
But it was Forest who were partying at full-time after stunning Villa with a classic comeback to move above Manchester City into fourth place.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side simply refused to accept defeat as they gatecrashed Duran’s celebrations to rock their Midlands rivals.
Not even the disappointment of a Chris Wood disallowed goal for offside could halt Nuno’s Forest fighters.
Milenkovic headed them level three minutes from full-time and – as Villa reeled – it was inspirational sub Anthony Elanga who pounced to add a second, three minutes into stoppage time.
It was a fabulous finish, just as we were beginning to think Forest and Villa had served up a Saturday night stinker.
The first half was a slow burner to say the least.
Both of these Euro hopefuls played as if they were playing away from home in Europe in the days when away goals counted double.
Because they gave the impression they would happily have settled for a goalless draw from a long way out.
Villa suffered a blow before a ball had been kicked when Tyrone Mings limped off during the pre-match warm-up and had to be replaced by Pau Torres.
But there was little to suggest Forest could cash in on the upheaval during a turgid first 45 minutes.
Forest have done well this season despite having less possession han any other side in the Premier League.
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The problem was Villa seemed content to hit on the break too.
So we sat back and waited for the action to begin …. and we waited …. and waited.
Duran and Ryan Yates swapped shots which they blazed over at either end.
Then Neco Williams picked out Chris Wood at the back post but the Kiwi striker‘s header across the face of goal went begging because none of his teammates had gambled on picking off an easy finish.
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Elliot Anderson crashed a shot off Boubacar Kamara‘s knee and Murillo rose to get on the end of an Anderson corner, only to shoulder his effort wide.
The only mildly controversial moment came after 34 minutes when Anderson grabbed hold of Morgan Rogers wrist as the forward burst into the Forest box, causing him to tumble.
But VAR John Brooks agreed with referee Sam Barrott’s assessment that contact was only fleeting, as the pair of officials decided against risking any form of excitement!
Ezri Konsa then glanced a John McGinn free kick wide before we were treated to the first shot on target… in first half stoppage time!
Even then Matty Cash’s attempt from the corner of the Forest box was parried out by Sels – but yet again no forward gambled on following the ball in.
Only Liverpool and Arsenal had conceded fewer than the 18 Premier League goals Forest had shipped by the time they headed off for their half-time cuppa.
Nuno’s men had also shipped just 22 big chances to their opposition – the joint-fewest along with Arsenal.
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Villa were doing little to trouble those stats although Jhon Duran did his best with a bit of pure theatre 10 minutes into the second half.
The big Colombian fluffed his first attempt at taming John McGinn’s corner – then flashed a spectacular scissors kick onto the roof of the net.
Forest thought they had grabbed the lead on the hour when Gibbs-White flicked on Anderson’s corner and Nicolas Dominguez headed past Emi Martinez.
But somehow the World’s No.1 produced a miraculous save to claw the ball back off the line with his left glove – which Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp later described as like “Gordon Banks vs Pele”.
Duran cashed in with the opening goal three minutes later, powering a header beyond Sels from McGinn’s dinked cross to grab his 11th goal of the season.
Chris Wood then had an equaliser agonisingly ruled out by VAR as Elanga was judged a fraction offside before cutting the ball back for the striker.
But Forest were no to be denied.
Milenkovic drew them level when he squeezed a backpost header in off Martinez, one week after opening his account for the season against Manchester United.
And incredibly, three minutes into stoppage time Anderson bundled Cash over and cut the ball back for Elanga to ram the ball beyond Martinez from close range to complete an amazing victory.
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