Aston Villa vs. Nottingham Forest: player grades in 1-0 victory
By Josh Tonti
Aston Villa collected a hard-fought three points at the City Ground. Scott Hogan’s lone header, assisted by Robert Snodgrass, gave Villa the victory over Nottingham Forest.
What a solid three points from the claret and blue! Steve Bruce set-up in the usual 4-2-3-1 hybrid – a system Nottingham Forest just could not penetrate. Despite a cool 61% possession, Forest mustered four shots on target, three of the tame variety.
This match had 30 fouls. THIRTY fouls. 20 from the home side, 10 from Villa. Robert Snodgrass and Jack Grealish were particularly effective in drawing the whistle, thus creating a good break from Forest’s heavy possession.
Scott Hogan scored in the 17th-minute from an excellent near-post run. None other than Robert Snodgrass whipped an in-swinging cross that Hogan buried into the net. Aston Villa held on for all three points. Birkir Bjarnason played a noteworthy defensive midfield after replacing the injured Glenn Whelan at half-time.
Without further ado, player grades:
Aston Villa. SAM JOHNSTONE. 6.5. Solid, vocal, and no mistakes to speak of. Sam Johnstone may benefit from an organized defense, but give him credit for another clean sheet away from home. 4 saves on Forest and very clean handling aside from Dowell’s long-range hit.. GK
6.5. A bit too eager for the long pass, but Elmohamady was solid in defense. Forest had little-to-no movement along the left flank. His link-up work with Robert Snodgrass kept Armand Traore occupied all evening. Elmo’s 72 touches led Aston Villa. RB. Aston Villa. AHMED ELMOHAMADY
Aston Villa. JAMES CHESTER. 6.5. The partners in crime finally reunited! James Chester and John Terry both completed 90%+ passing accuracy in the first-half. Moreover, they kept Forest at bay by dominating the shorter Ben Brereton, Zack Clough and Kieran Dowell.. RCB
6.5. Ditto for Terry on his league return. Struck the crossbar from a free kick in the first-half. Looked very fit.. LCB. Aston Villa. JOHN TERRY
ALAN HUTTON. 6.0. Heavily involved once more from the left fullback position, but Alan Hutton held his own. Only completed 67% of his passes.. LB. Aston Villa
Glenn Whelan gets a 6.5 and Bjarnason gets a 7 so we’ll keep it at a 7. Whelan’s return from the bench, and subsequent great first-half, is overshadowed by a mysterious knee injury. Hopefully it’s not serious. As for Bjarnason, another role, another good performance. He could probably play goalkeeper, too.. CDM. Aston Villa. GLENN WHELAN / BIRKIR BJARNASON. 7.0
CONOR HOURIHANE. 7.5. Box-to-box, clean passing, highly disruptive, not afraid to shoot, Hourihane did it all. A complete central midfielder.. CM. Aston Villa
8.0. Whip up another assist for Snoddy – the Scot’s seventh in the league. Our man-of-the-match, drawing several fouls and highly effective in 1v1 dribbling scenarios.. RM. Aston Villa. ROBERT SNODGRASS
Jack Grealish, the conductor. Everything seems to revolve around him. Two key passes, 89% passing, drawing fouls, nearly an assist, but Adomah was offside. A complete performance.. CAM. Aston Villa. JACK GREALISH. 7.5
7.0. Albert Adomah was a threat from the left flank, constantly looking for those 1v1 situations. Solid defensive work. Replaced by Neil Taylor in extra time.. LM. Aston Villa. ALBERT ADOMAH
7.0. Scored a clinical number nine’s goal. Scott Hogan peeled off his marker and made a near-post run in front of Forest ‘keeper Jordan Smith. He promptly hammered it into the ground for the lone goal on the evening. Great match, not that heavily involved, however. Keinan Davis replaced in the 82nd-minute.. CF. Aston Villa. SCOTT HOGAN
Aston Villa have a full week off, hosting Barnsley on the 20th. All data provided by WhoScored.