Premier League Nottingham Forest 2 Aston Villa 1 Full time

Anthony Elanga scored his first goal in the Premier League since 10 February 2024 against Newcastle United

Substitute Anthony Elanga scored an injury-time winner in a thrilling finish at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest came from 1-0 down to beat Aston Villa.

The Sweden forward pounced in the third minute of stoppage time, slamming the ball through the legs of Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to lift Forest into fourth in the table.

Jhon Duran thought he had claimed another match-winning goal for Villa, having been handed consecutive starts for the first time in the Premier League.

The Colombia striker, who turned 21 on Friday, bolstered his claim for a regular starting role with a powerful header to break the deadlock with his 11th goal of the season.

Forest's top scorer Chris Wood had an effort ruled out for offside against Elanga in the build-up as the home side pushed for an equaliser.

But moments later, in the 87th minute, defender Nikola Milenkovic headed home to level with his second goal in two games, before Elanga's late strike secured a sixth win in nine games for Forest, while Villa remain sixth.

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Forest take chance to climb into top four

There was little hint of the drama to come when Duran was replaced by Ollie Watkins, with Villa leading 1-0 with 16 minutes of normal time remaining.

Duran has been European football's most prolific super-sub this year but having scored the winner in four of Villa's seven Premier League wins this season, it seemed he had again done enough.

But four minutes later, Forest brought on Elanga and the 22-year-old had an immediate impact, squaring for Wood to slide the ball in but, after a lengthy stoppage, the video assistant referee silenced home celebrations by ruling that Elanga was offside.

Moments before Duran's opener, Martinez produced a superb reflex save to prevent Nicolas Dominguez putting Forest in front, clawing the ball off the line.

The World Cup winner was beaten though when Milenkovic met Morgan Gibbs-White's right-wing cross with a header from four yards and the ball squirmed through the Argentina keeper's hands and over the line.

Seven minutes were indicated for added time and with the City Ground rocking, Forest took full advantage.

Elliot Anderson won the ball back on the edge of the Villa penalty box to keep the pressure on, and the Forest midfielder drifted into the area before cutting it back for Elanga to sweep in his first goal of the season.

Forest had lost on each of the past six occasions when they came into a game fifth in the Premier League table, but this rousing victory boosts their hopes of making a push for European qualification.

Clamour continues for Duran to start

Duran scored the only goal in Villa's Premier League win over Southampton last Saturday, and despite coming off the bench in midweek, he scored again during Villa's Champions League win at RB Leipzig.

That was his sixth goal as a substitute in all competitions - more than any other player across Europe's big five leagues.

In a BBC poll after Tuesday's victory, 44% said that Duran should start up front on his own for Villa, even when Watkins is fully fit.

With Watkins having been forced off with a minor injury in midweek, Duran came back into the starting line-up and his only sight of goal during a drab first half was when he sent a speculative effort off target.

After the break, Duran miscued a volley from a corner but the ball bounced up for him to send an overhead kick narrowly over.

And from his only other effort on goal, Duran opened the scoring by heading home John McGinn's cross after good build-up play involving Morgan Rogers, Lucas Digne and Duran.

This was Duran's 51st Premier League appearance but only his fifth start.

Yet having scored in three straight Villa appearances for the first time - and in all five starts in all competitions this season - the clamour for him to keep starting ahead of seven-goal England striker Watkins continues to grow.