Ollie Watkins continued his revival as Aston Villa bounced back from defeat to punish careless Nottingham Forest.
The England striker’s fourth goal in three games helped earn Villa an 11th straight home win – their best run in 36 years – the perfect response to the loss at Arsenal four days ago.
John McGinn’s double helped Villa move up to second in the Premier League and 12 points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, despite Morgan Gibbs-White pulling a goal back.
The hosts added to Forest’s woes as they suffered a fourth straight league defeat for the first time in over two years, part of a run which saw Steve Cooper sacked.
Sean Dyche’s men are four points above the relegation zone and travel to third-bottom West Ham on Tuesday for a crucial reunion with former manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
Aside from an Omari Hutchinson effort Dyche’s sloppy side rarely threatened and could have been behind early when John Victor brilliantly denied Watkins.
Yet Watkins – who scored just once in his opening 19 games this season – fired in from 20 yards in first-half stoppage time before McGinn made it 2-0 soon after the break.
Gibbs-White coolly made it 2-1 but goalkeeper John went walkabout and McGinn restored Villa’s two-goal advantage when he found the empty net from 35 yards.
Watkins was being written off by some earlier in the season.
The striker was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s last England squad in November, having previously been forced to withdraw from the October squad with injury.
His form in the first half of the season had seen, justifiable, questions asked over whether he would make the plane for the summer’s World Cup.
One goal in his first 19 games was not good enough from someone who has always hit double figures since joining from Brentford in 2020.
But with six goals in his last eight games, including one against Forest on his 250th Villa appearance, the 30-year-old is fighting back.
His link up with Morgan Rogers was also evident again, Rogers teeing Watkins up for his first-half opener, with the pair combining for 10 Premier League goals since the start of last season, two more than any other duo.
With Evann Guessand on duty with Ivory Coast for the Africa Cup of Nations and the goals slowly drying up for Donyell Malen Villa needed Watkins to find his form again.
It has returned in style, with doubles against Brighton and Chelsea helping to shoot Villa up to their lofty position in the table.
This time last year Forest were third in the Premier League and good candidates for Champions League qualification.
Fast-forward 12 months and they could be back in the bottom three by Tuesday evening.
Before the game manager Dyche said Forest’s form can play tricks on you.
His argument is that Crystal Palace and Sunderland only have one more point [seven] than Forest in their previous six games so maybe their form is not so bad.
But after a fourth straight defeat the prospect of Nuno returning to haunt them on Tuesday at West Ham is a very real one.
It was a careless loss at Villa Park and Forest need to look at the reality. They must rediscover the form and organisation which saw Dyche win seven of his first 12 games in all competitions.
In the Midlands they were negligent, even before goalkeeper John’s rush of blood which gifted McGinn a crucial third.
They had already switched off, waiting for the whistle, before Watkins’ opener in first-half stoppage time.
It comes following Tuesday’s limp loss to a depleted Everton side, and the warning signs are there for Forest.
Aston Villa: Unai Emery’s side head to Crystal Palace on Wednesday [19:30 GMT] and then go to Tottenham in the FA Cup on Saturday [17:45].
Nottingham Forest: A trip to West Ham, and a first reunion with Nuno since he left in September, awaits on Tuesday [20:00] before Friday’s FA Cup third-round game at Wrexham [19:30].
