By our man at Villa Park
VILLA PARK was a bear pit once again as Aston Villa reminded the Premier League that there is no tougher place to travel in the country.
On a bitingly cold Birmingham afternoon, the historic old ground—standing tall in the shadow of Aston Hall—became a cauldron of noise that swallowed Nottingham Forest whole.
Unai Emery’s side didn’t just win; they reclaimed their identity as the league’s most terrifying hosts with a 3-1 victory that felt written in the very bricks of the Holte End.
From the first whistle, the 42,000-strong crowd acted as a twelfth man, suffocating Sean Dyche’s Forest under a blanket of “Villa, Villa” chants.
For 44 minutes, the visitors clung on, surviving a siege in the opening exchanges where the energy of the Trinity Road Stand seemed to propel every Villa attack.
But Villa Park has a way of rewarding patience. Just as the half-time tea was being poured, the stadium erupted.
Ollie Watkins—a man who treats this pitch like his own backyard—turned on a sixpence at the edge of the area and lashed a thunderbolt into the top corner.
The roar that followed was deafening, a release of pure Brummie pride that signaled the end of Forest’s resistance.
The second half was the John McGinn show. The Villa captain, thriving in the electric atmosphere, doubled the lead in the 49th minute with a clinical side-footed finish. Even when Morgan Gibbs-White briefly silenced the home faithful by pulling one back for Forest, the “Villa Park Factor” ensured there was no panic.
The knockout blow came in the 73rd minute, fueled by a lapse in judgment from Forest keeper John Victor.
Lured out of his goal by the sheer intensity of the Villa press, Victor was left stranded as McGinn rounded him to slot into an empty net. The Holte End didn’t just celebrate; they shook the foundations of the stadium.
As the final whistle blew, the “fortress” statistics told the story: 11 straight home wins in all competitions.
This wasn’t just a three-point haul; it was a statement that at Villa Park, the lights are brighter, the crowd is louder, and for visiting teams, the mountain is simply too high to climb.
