A pair of quick fire early goals drove Aston Villa to a 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday at Villa Park, further thickening the top-four plot in the Premier League.
WATCH – Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest full match replay
Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen gave Villa a two-goal lead after 15 minutes, and Jota Silva was the only Forest player to solve Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez over 90 minutes.
Villa earned the three points on the scoreboard but had to defend to the end thanks to six saves from Forest keeper Matz Sels, who kept the game up for grabs.
Villa join sixth-place Man City on 51 points, one behind fourth-place Chelsea. The Villans are six back of third-place Nottingham Forest, who fail to take advantage of Arsenal's draw with Everton.
More to come...
How to watch Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest live, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 12:30 pm ET Saturday
Venue: Villa Park — Birmingham
TV Channel: USA
Streaming: Watch live on NBC.com
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest final score: 2-1
Morgan Rogers 13', Donyell Malen 15', Jota Silva 57'
Aston Villa vs Nottingham Forest live updates — By Nick Mendola
Full time — Aston Villa 2-1 Nottingham Forest
Rogers solo run denied
Morgan Rogers is feeling it on a long dribble down the right side, opting against sending Marcus Rashford 1v1 with Sels by juking around a mark and hitting a low shot that is smothered by Sels.
Still 2-1 Villa, now into the 67th minute.
Jota Silva goal — Villa 2-1 Forest (57th minute)
Neco Williams' low entry pass is taken off the foot of Elliot Anderson by Jota Silva, who wheels and fires through the legs of a defender to defy Emiliano Martinez and spin inside the far post.
Forest are back in this through Nuno's halftime sub.
Subs
Villa's Andres Garcia exits for Ezri Konsa at the break, while Jota Silva replaces Anthony Elanga for Forest.
Halftime — Aston Villa 2-0 Nottingham Forest
Expect changes at the break for Nuno Espirito Santo, whose Forest need a jolt to their hopes of a point or more today. But remember: Chris Wood's hip injury keeps him unavailable and a fresh injury to Taiwo Awoniyi is leaving Forest without a true No. 9 (and it is showing, with all due respect to the false-nine skills of Morgan Gibbs-White). Ramon Sosa and Jota Silva are the only true attackers on Forest's bench.
Villa, meanwhile, are well on their way to not taxing the squad ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal first leg at Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.
Shot attempts are 8-6 for Villa, who have held 62% of the ball and lead xG by nearly a full point: 1.22-0.33.
Donyell Malen goal — Villa 2-0 Forest (15th minute)
Villa have had the first five shot attempts of the match and now they've got a 40% conversion rate.
Ian Maatsen takes a short pass from Tielemans and drives down the left, sending the ball into the six where Malen slides it past Sels.
Morgan Rogers goal — Villa 1-0 Forest (13th minute)
Villa find their way through normally-resilient Forest in style.
Youri Tielemans looks up and sees Morgan Rogers ready to take on the right side of a reorganized Forest back line missing Ola Aina.
Rogers gets onto the long ball and ...
