Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Highlights, man of the match, stats as John McGinn nets brilliant brace

Aston Villa cruised to a comfortable 3-1 victory over Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday, inspired by a marvellous John McGinn double.

The pattern of play quickly emerged in the first half, as Nottingham Forest defended with every man behind the ball and rarely broke forward while Aston Villa sought to break them down, a plan the Tricky Trees executed perfectly until Ollie Watkins broke the deadlock with an absolute beauty on the stroke of half-time.

The Villans picked up where they left off from the restart, with McGinn doubling their lead just minutes after kick off, but Nottingham Forest responded well to going two goals behind, pulling one back through Morgan Gibbs-White just after the hour mark.

Nottingham Forest appeared most likely to score next and level the game as they pushed for an equaliser, but a disastrous error from John Victor allowed McGinn to restore Aston Villa's two-goal lead, from which the Villans cruised to victory.

SPORTS MOLE'S VERDICT

Nottingham Forest started the game attempting to make it hard for Aston Villa to break them down by defending with every man behind the ball, and while that worked much of the half, their inability to keep control of the ball after winning it back eventually came back to bite them.

Forest were often too fast to simply clear their lines and allow Aston Villa to immediately mount another attack rather than attempting to move forward themselves, and that was the case in the build-up to the hosts' opener - with Villa winning the aerial duel from an initial clearance and quickly moving the ball to Watkins for the first goal of the game.

Aston Villa swiftly doubled their lead after the break, forcing Nottingham Forest to be more expressive, and while that appeared to be working as Gibbs-White pulled one back and the Tricky Trees looked likely to level the game, a miserable mistake from the goalkeeper ended any hopes of a comeback.

Sean Dyche will undoubtedly be disappointed with Victor, especially as Forest were certainly on top following Gibbs-White's goal and looked fully capable of equalising, and the Villans never conceded control after their third goal.

As for Unai Emery, there will be slight concerns with the dramatic drop in intensity directly after their second goal, which allowed Nottingham Forest to briefly get back into the game, but the performance and result as a whole will certainly please the Spaniard, especially as it moves Aston Villa up to second in the standings.

ASTON VILLA VS. NOTTINGHAM FOREST HIGHLIGHTS

Ollie Watkins goal vs. Nottingham Forest (46th min, Aston Villa 1-0 Nottingham Forest)

Ollie Watkins scores for a third Premier League game in a row! ? pic.twitter.com/4cqyPkB1iG
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 3, 2026

Watkins breaks the deadlock with an absolute stunner!

Aston Villa win the ball back from Nottingham Forest's clearance, quickly moving the ball forward to Morgan Rogers.

Rogers feeds the ball through to Watkins just outside the area, the striker turns and smashes a beauty into the top left corner.

John McGinn goal vs. Nottingham Forest (49th min, Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest)

What a start to the second half for Villa!

A composed finish from John McGinn and interesting celebration ? pic.twitter.com/FNU8SeqbIs
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 3, 2026

McGinn doubles Aston Villa's lead right after the restart!

Dilane Bakwa is caught in possession deep inside the Forest half, and Aston Villa quickly work it out wide on the opposite flank to Matty Cash on the right wing.

Cash fires a low cross into the box, and McGinn meets the ball with a left-footed effort that finds the left side of the net.

Morgan Gibbs-White goal vs. Aston Villa (61st min, Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest)

Morgan Gibbs-White finds a way back for Nottingham Forest! ? pic.twitter.com/wWDlFd266y
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 3, 2026

Gibbs-White pulls one back for Forest, game on!

Bakwa plays a pass towards Igor Jesus, but the striker leaves the ball and lets it run into the path of Gibbs-White.

Gibbs-White bears down on goal, into the penalty area and lifts his effort over Emiliano Martinez and into the top left corner.

John McGinn goal vs. Nottingham Forest (73rd min, Aston Villa 3-1 Nottingham Forest)

"Where's the goalkeeper?!"

John McGinn scores from range into an empty net! ? pic.twitter.com/31lc9KoUXt
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 3, 2026

McGinn restores Aston Villa's two-goal lead - John Victor will not want to watch that one back!

Youri Tielemans lofts a pass towards McGinn, the midfielder superbly brings the ball down to skip past Victor, who has raced unnecessarily miles out of his net.

McGinn takes another touch to open the shooting angle and curls a low strike into the empty net from range.

MAN OF THE MATCH - JOHN MCGINN

McGinn had a slightly underwhelming first half, featuring multiple overhit crosses into the box, but the midfielder stepped up his game in the second period.

The Aston Villa captain doubled their lead just moments after the restart with a clinical finish, while he added his second and Villa's third with a precise effort from range after Victor's major error.

While McGinn proved to be the match winner, Boubacar Kamara also deserves mention for his superb midfield performance, including winning the most duels (13) and most tackles (five) of any player on the pitch.

ASTON VILLA VS. NOTTINGHAM FOREST MATCH STATS

Possession: Aston Villa 73%-27% Nottingham Forest

Shots: Aston Villa 11-10 Nottingham Forest

Shots on target: Aston Villa 4-5 Nottingham Forest

Corners: Aston Villa 4-4 Nottingham Forest

Fouls: Aston Villa 10-20 Nottingham Forest

BEST STATS

Aston Villa have scored 11 Premier League goals from outside the box this season, their most in a season since 2012/13 (12). ? pic.twitter.com/Hdk9IXu1sp
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) January 3, 2026

Just the second time in 311 games in all competitions John McGinn has scored twice in a match for Aston Villa.

The other also coming against Nottingham Forest (March 2019 in the Championship). ?#AVLNFO pic.twitter.com/QKUh0J6msK
— Squawka Live (@Squawka_Live) January 3, 2026