Villa were equally emphatic with Abraham scoring twice in three minutes to level the scoreline after only 14 minutes.

With both defences caught napping, Matt Cash regained a 22nd-minute lead for Forest only for Abraham to slot away a 36th-minute penalty to complete his hat-trick.

The goal of the game came in the 51st minute from Joe Lolley with a superb shot from 35 yards that spectacularly whistled into the net.

Forest could not retain their advantage as Abraham notched his fourth after 71 minutes before substitute Anwar El Ghazi grabbed a fifth goal for Villa, which was then cancelled out by Grabban eight minutes from time.

High-flying Forest had quickly demonstrated their confidence in a breathtaking start when they shocked Villa with two goals in the opening six minutes.

There was little indication of such a devastating opening spell as John McGinn produced a tantalising cross from the right which was only just missed by Jonathan Kodjia.

Villa’s keenness to gain the upper hand, however, backfired in dramatic fashion.

Lolley, a Villa fan, cleverly created the opening with a low cross from the right to expose the frailties in the home defence as an unmarked Grabban was on hand to score with a raking shot after only three minutes to record his 11th goal of the season.

Before Villa had time to recover from this setback they found themselves even deeper in trouble as the slick moving Lolley again opened up the opposition defence with an astute pass which led to Carvalho notching another easy goal.

This was certainly a wake-up call for Villa as they had to quickly repair the damage and they responded in devastating style.

Forest’s defence suddenly sprang a leak. Yannick Bolasie produced a right-wing cross which found Villa’s on-loan striker Abraham in possession to score past Costel Pantilimon in the 11th minute.

Boosted by this goal, Villa took the game to Forest and a McGinn shot was blocked but the visitors failed to clear their lines and Abraham was on hand to score from close range.

Forest’s confidence was never in doubt as they repeatedly took the game to Villa and they were rewarded with a third goal when James Chester was at fault to allow Cash to capitalise on the defender’s mistake to coolly shoot past Orjan Nyland.

But in this frantic game Villa continued to excite their fans when Abraham completed his hat-trick in the 36th minute as he slotted home a penalty after Bolasie was brought down by Jack Robinson.

Forest’s would not be denied and, after surviving a hectic five minutes at the start of the second half, their star performer Lolley scored another spectacular goal with a swerving shot from fully 35 yards which left Nyland transfixed.

In the 68th minute, Forest’s Tobias Figueiredo was sent off for a foul on McGinn.

Then, from Jack Grealish’s free-kick, Abraham celebrated a night to remember when he headed home his fourth goal in a memorable match.

El Ghazi notched Villa’s fifth with a long-range cross shot in the 75th minute but Grabban had the last word with a 82nd-minute equaliser from a narrow angle.

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