Emery left searching for answers after another Villa loss — SkimNews
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- Aston Villa lost 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest — their third defeat in four opening games — after Igor Jesus headed in an 89th-minute winner, with Liam Delap scoring 45 seconds after the restart and Alysson netting his first English goal to equalize.
- Unai Emery argued James McAtee should have been sent off for the tackle that injured Ian Maatsen (forcing Villa to finish with 10 men), but conceded his side "played so so poor" in the second half and refused to blame the officiating for the result.
- Nottingham Forest registered 22 shots and 32 touches in Villa's box, earning their first win at Villa Park since 1994 and extending Oliver Glasner's unbeaten run against Emery to eight games across his Palace and Forest tenures.
- Villa's defensive crisis deepened as Pau Torres was also substituted in the first half, while £30m summer signing Taylor Harwood-Bellis was omitted from the matchday squad entirely.
- New signings Manzambi and Mbaye, costing a combined £98m, debuted as second-half substitutes but couldn't shift the game, while Chelsea loanee Alejandro Garnacho remained an unused substitute for the second time running.
- Villa's home decline is now stark: the loss follows a 1-0 opening defeat to Arsenal and continues a run of four defeats in their final 15 home league games last season, making this the fourth time they've started a top-flight season winless through four matches.
Why it matters: Emery's Villa, who finished fourth and won the Europa League last season, now risk sitting bottom of the Premier League by Sunday evening, and the immediate concern is defensive depth — Maatsen's potential long-term absence, Pau Torres's first-half substitution, and Harwood-Bellis's omission leave Emery with a threadbare backline ahead of a Carabao Cup trip to Coventry and a visit to Tottenham.
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