Aston Villa 2-2 Nottingham Forest: Forest Leave it Late in Thrilling Midlands Derby
Nottingham Forest left it late to secure a 2-2 draw against Aston Villa at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon.
Rudy Gestede and Ross McCormack found the back of the net for Villa in the second half, cancelling out Apostolos Vellios' opener for Forest. But it was Forest captain Henry Lansbury who had the last laugh, scoring a dramatic equaliser in the 87th minute.
The clash between the old rivals marked the first ever meeting of two European Cup winners outside of the top-flight.
Villa's £15m summer signing Jonathan Kodjia started on his debut for the club, while Forest were without strike duo Britt Assombalonga and Nicklas Bendtner through injury.
Talented young striker Oliver Burke completed a switch to Red Bull Leipzig at the end of August, leaving Forest to start ex-Everton striker Apostolos Vellios at the brunt of their attack, with Mustapha Carayol and Ben Osborn on either wing.
1 - Nottm Forest v Aston Villa is the first time that two European Cup winners have faced one another outside the top tier in England. Fall.
In what began as a feisty Midlands derby, Aston Villa began as the better side, with Jack Grealish and summer signing Jonathan Kodjia looking dangerous in attack.
The first meaningful opportunity of the game came in the 17th minute. Nottingham Forest's Pajtim Kasami brought down Gary Gardner on the edge of the box, leading to a well-struck free kick from Jordan Ayew, which went just over the Forest crossbar.
Aston Villa's Ross McCormack came within inches of breaking the deadlock in the 32nd minute, Ayew and Kodjia combined superbly on the right side of the penalty box, putting a quality drilled ball across the box, only for McCormack's tap-in to cannon against the post and go out of play.
One minute later and Roberto Di Matteo's side came close again, this time Jordan Ayew's improvised shot from a Kodjia cross trickled just wide of the post.
#AVFC 0-0 #NFFC - 44mins: Oh so close for the new boy! Kodjia header well saved by Stojkovic. #AVLNOT pic.twitter.com/fqeVsNBm4N
And it was Kodjia who continued to a look a threat, driving a powerful header to the right of Forest's goalkeeper, who kept his hand strong to claw out the Frenchman's effort.
This brought a close to the first-half with scores level at 0-0, although Villa looked most likely to break the deadlock.
Villa started the second half in the same vein as the first, dominating possession of the ball, but it was Forest who scored against the run of play, with Apostolos Vellios scoring a thunderous drive from 25-yards.
Goal for Forest! (Vellios 57') Aston Villa 0-1 #NFFC pic.twitter.com/OmWwOKQfvV
Minutes later and it was Villa's chance to threaten, firstly Jordan Ayew rattled the crossbar with an equally powerful drive, before Jonathan Kodjia came close with his head again, only for Stojkovic to pull off a strong save in the Forest goal.
After extended spells of pressure Villa finally found an elusive equaliser, this time Jordan Ayew weaved in between Forest defenders before slotting a perfect through ball to Ross McCormack, who confidently scored from close-range.
Holte is rocking ?? #UTV
And it was Jordan Ayew who turned provider again, this time the Ghanaian international surged through a hapless Nottingham Forest defence, getting to the byline on the right and finding Rudy Gestede, who took one touch to control and one to finish, putting Villa 2-1 up in the 74th minute.
Despite Villa looking comfortable after their second goal, it was short-lived, as Forest captain Henry Lansbury pounced on a defensive mix-up, smashing the ball in the roof of the net to send the travelling fans into raptures.
Portuguese right-back Hildeberto Pereira, who made an inspired run to create the goal, was sent off for celebrating with the travelling support, which the referee deemed to be a second bookable offence.
10-man Forest managed to hold on in five minutes of stoppage time, much to the frustration of the Villa Park faithful, who were sure of victory after their quick-fire double halfway through the second half.
Full time: Aston Villa 2-2 Nottingham Forest
And it's another! Rudy Gestede! 2-1 to Villa. #AVFC #NFFC #AVLNOT pic.twitter.com/5QAIj6Tvbr
Team news: Jonathan Kodjia makes his debut against @NFFC. Ritchie De Laet makes his home debut. #AVFC #NFFC #AVLNOT pic.twitter.com/0hwZq1kyr0
#NFFC v Aston Villa: Stojkovic, Lichaj, Mancienne, Perquis, Fox, Carayol, Kasami, Lansbury (c), Cash, Osborn, Vellios
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