Villa lose to Nottingham Forest but Dave Woodhall says it’s not over yet.
It’s hard to know where to begin with this one. On the surface we saw the Villa yet again manage to throw away a big match, and in doing so carry on with what we do best – avoiding the chance to win a trophy that seemed there for the taking. And yet, despite everything we’re only a goal down at half-time and the one thing Unai Emery has proved capable of is turning round a performance during the interval.
The night began promisingly enough, with the presence of Amadou Onana in the starting line-up despite worrying noises all week about his fitness. This was as strong a team as you can realistically hope for at this stage of the season and the rare occurrence of a Villa player involved after being rated doubtful raised hopes that we might, after all, be able to change the habits of what seems more than a lifetime.
The early stages of the match appeared to bear this out. There wasn’t much between the teams but Villa’s greater experience gave them the edge as they settled quicker and made a couple of chances. Onana in particular was showing what a difference he makes by getting to grips with the Forest midfield and when the home side did create something Emiliano Martinez was at his best.
Goalless at half-time and Villa were looking at a job half-well done until the first turning point of the match, when Onana seemed to fall awkwardly and was forced to go off. Maybe he hadn’t been fully-fit but having him on the pitch for so long had been a gamble worth taking, particularly as the limitations of his replacement, Lamare Bogarde, were quickly exposed.
Still, Villa were now doing a reasonable job of keeping Forest contained until the second turning point, when for some inexplicable reason Lucas Digne gave away a penalty with a handball that rivalled Tyrone Mings in Monaco last season for sheer idiocy. The ref originally said the ball had gone out earlier then VAR had to intervene and that never ends well. I appreciate that this is going over old ground, but when a decision is as marginal as this one appeared to be, surely the ref should have the final decision.
And thinking back to a similar occasion at home to Brentford, which naturally went against us, there was two days of media overload before an amateur image from an awkward angle finally appeared to justify the decision. Somehow, I doubt we’ll get as much debate this time and the same can be said for the assault that left Ollie Watkins lucky to still have two intact legs. I may be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get me.
There wasn’t a great deal much else happened after that. Forest were happy to get a one-goal lead, Villa didn’t seem as interested in equalising as in not conceding again. We could have done better, it could have turned out worse. Watching the Forest supporters after the match they seem to think they’ve already won the trophy. They haven’t seen Villa Park under the lights, on the big occasion.
