Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at their home fortress on Saturday to ease the pain of their 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 visitors but McGinn took advantage of a brain freeze 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 their ability to maintain a title charge.
But their impressive record at Villa Park remains intact — they have 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 were denied an early opener when Victor saved a Watkins shot from point-blank range with his legs.
Sean Dyche’s Forest, who came into the match on a three-match losing run, struggled to gain a foothold but the home side failed to take advantage of their dominance in a tepid first half.
The away team came close to taking the lead with their 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 they 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 were back in the game in the 61st minute courtesy of a fine finish from Gibbs-White, who chipped past the diving Martinez.
But Villa were 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 leaders Arsenal, and one ahead of City.
The Gunners are away at Bournemouth later on Saturday while Pep Guardiola’s men host managerless Chelsea on Sunday.
Forest remain one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who face Wolves later on Saturday.