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Aston Villa have two solutions to fix big problem after defeat snatched from the jaws of victory
Aston Villa snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at the City Ground on Saturday night after conceding in the 87th and 93rd minute to lose 2-1 to Nottingham Forest.
It was Villa's fifth league defeat of the season and their fourth in succession on the road in the competition, but when Jhon Duran scored the opener just after the hour mark, Villa were on for a textbook away performance. They were handed a slice of fortune when Anthony Elanga just strayed into an offside position before rolling across the box for Chris Wood, but Villa didn't heed that warning.
Nikola Milenkovic headed past Emi Martinez at the back post after finding space in the box, before Elanga then completed the turnaround by finishing Elliot Anderson's cross from the left. It's a defeat which will leave a bitter taste for some weeks to come.
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Here are the talking points from Villa's defeat...
Emery: What Villa need to improve is clear to me
Emery was visibly frustrated in the dug-out as he watched his side collapse in the final 10 minutes of the match. The warning signs were there, but Villa could not stop wave after wave of attacks from their hosts.
As we saw last season, Villa are capable of grinding results out on the road and that's what makes dropped points at the likes of Ipswich and Forest all the more frustrating.
"We played 90 minutes more or less as we planned," Emery explained after full-time. "In the first 70 minutes, we were controlling and kept the ball possession. Nottingham Forest are very aggressive in attack. We lost the control completely in the final 20 minutes because they started pushing more and made some changes.
"We had to be consistent with the ball. We had to keep the possession and should have tried to attack and score the second goal.
"But of course it is a process. We are in a process. We will analyse the first 70 minutes and also the last 20 minutes and where we have to improve the team is very clear to me."
Champions League hangover
After being defeated by Forest, Villa are now winless in their past five top-flight fixtures directly following a Champions League game, losing three and drawing two.
Emery said in his post-match press conference that it wasn't an excuse, but that doesn't mean that his players aren't suffering in some way.
In that winless run, Villa drew at home against Manchester United and Bournemouth, while they lost to Liverpool and Chelsea, which are two games that most Premier League sides will struggle in. However, Villa just about overcame Wolves after beating BSC Young Boys in September, which is the only match in which they have won after a Champions League night.
Last season, Villa's record on a Sunday following a Thursday night match in the Europa Conference League was strong. In the six group stage matches they played, they then won four of the fixtures following those games and drew twice.
Villa then lost 4-0 at home to Tottenham after playing out a goalless stalemate against Ajax in the round of 16, before they drew 1-1 at West Ham after beating the Dutch giants 4-0 at Villa Park in the reverse leg. Wins over Arsenal and Bournemouth came after the two legs against Lille, while Villa lost four of their last five games of the season, including twice against Olympiacos.
Villa will entertain West Ham after playing AS Monaco next month, before they'll take on Wolves at Molineux after hosting Celtic for their final league phase fixture. If Villa have to play a two-legged knockout play-off, the two matches which follow them will be against Ipswich and Chelsea at home, while a trip to Brentford and then a home clash against Liverpool come either side of the Champions League round of 16 matches.
Defensive frailties will hold Villa back
Forest didn't even register a shot on target in the first half and barely threatened Villa until Martinez made possibly the best save I've seen live. It was astonishing. Nicolas Dominguez must've thought he had put the Reds in front, before Villa went down the other end and broke the deadlock through Duran.
To then concede two late goals - after also being let off the hook after a marginal offside - was poor from Villa's perspective. They have to manage games better and absorb pressure.
The return of Boubacar Kamara has made them stronger and he was once again Villa's best player on Saturday night. He suffered an ACL injury in February and missed the final three months of last season and the start of this campaign. Without him, Villa shipped two or more goals in eight of the 14 league matches the midfielder missed last term.
Worryingly, in the seven league games he has featured in this term, Villa have still conceded too many goals, 13 in total and two or more in four matches.
Emery favoured Tyrone Mings ahead of Pau Torres for last night's match, but the 31-year-old felt ill before kick-off and subsequently withdrew. He and Kamara both started in the win over Brentford, a game which Villa coasted to victory in the end despite failing to keep a clean sheet.
Either Mings helps fix Villa's defensive woes by playing more regularly, or Monchi works his magic in the January window. The volume of goals which Villa will continue to concede simply won't be sustainable especially considering they are not firing on all cylinders at the other end unlike last season.
Cash: We will bounce back
Villa have the chance to return to winning ways against Manchester City on Saturday, which may have looked like a daunting fixture a month or so ago. But, after winning just one in 10 matches before playing Manchester United, Villa can get a result in front of home fans if they are up and at it across the 90 minutes.
"We are really disappointed," Cash admitted on Sky Sports after losing to Forest. "We always knew it was a tough place to come. The first 60 minutes we did well but maybe we lost a bit of control in the last 30 minutes. We are really disappointed at the end.
"It is tough. You have to come to places like this and be strong and try and get three points. We didn't do enough to get that but we pick ourselves up and go again next week.
"Everyone is important. We have built a good team bond here and we have a strong squad with a fantastic manager. The challenge is to finish as high up as we can. We will go again and look to bounce back."
