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Igor Jesus snatches Nottingham Forest a last-gasp victory at Aston Villa
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- Igor Jesus snatches Nottingham Forest a last-gasp victory at Aston Villa
Igor Jesus piled the misery on Aston Villa as his late goal snatched a 2-1 victory for Nottingham Forest at Villa Park.
Jesus struck in the 88th minute to earn Forest their first win under new boss Oliver Glasner and leave Villa without a victory in four Premier League matches.
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Liam Delap went some way to paying back his £50million fee as he fired Forest in front after just 45 seconds of the second half.
Villa briefly rallied and did at least score their first goal of the league campaign when Alysson levelled, only for Jesus to have the final say.
Unai Emery is having to rebuild following a turbulent summer, where a host of key players were sold, but progress is slow as they sit in the bottom three.
The signs are much more positive for Forest as they enjoyed a first victory of the season – and a first at Villa Park since 1994 – with Glasner now unbeaten in eight games against Emery.
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It could have been so different had Villa taken an early lead.
They must have been thinking they would never break their scoring duck after an unbelievable passage of play, which saw the ball somehow stay out in the sixth minute.
Emiliano Buendia's cross picked out Victor Lindelof , whose shot hit Murillo 's leg and was clawed away by Matz Sels , with replays showing some of the ball had crossed the line.
The Belgium goalkeeper's save went onto a post, with Murillo's clearance then hitting Lindelof and forcing Sels into another instinctive stop.
Forest settled and James McAtee 's deflected effort saw Zion Suzuki get down well before Morgan Gibbs-White shot straight at the Japan international when the ball fell kindly to him.
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The visitors should have gone into the half-time break in front after Neco Williams wasted a golden chance.
Forest worked the ball well down the right and McAtee teed up the Wales international in acres of space on the edge of the area, but he blazed his first-time shot over the crossbar.
Emery hooked ineffective record signing Nicolas Jackson at half-time in a bid to improve things.
But they got worse as the visitors took just 45 seconds to open the scoring after the restart.
Delap outmuscled Buendia, was allowed to advance on goal and fired a low 20-yard effort into the bottom corner.
Forest were full of confidence and had big chances to double their lead.
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Dan Ndoye headed over and then had a goalbound effort blocked after Delap set him up invitingly.
The former Chelsea striker then had the ball in the back of the net again as he finished superbly from Gibbs-White's through ball, but he was in an offside position and it was ruled out.
Villa introduced summer signings Ibrahim Mbaye and Johan Manzambi and it changed the complexion of the match.
And after Mbaye's curled effort saw Sels tip the ball around a post, Villa finally ended their drought.
A corner was played short and John McGinn 's cross was glanced home by Alysson – his first goal for the club.
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It was all set up for a home push for victory, but Forest hit back.
Daniel Munoz and Xaver Schlager headers were saved by Suzuki before the winning moment came with two minutes left of normal time.
Munoz's cross was flicked on by Gibbs-White into the path of Jesus, who stabbed home from close range to seal a memorable victory.
