Forest beat Villa for first win as Delap ends drought

Nottingham Forest beat Aston Villa to claim their first win of the 2026/27 Premier League season.

The Matchweek 4 game kicked off at 15:00 BST on Saturday 12 September 2026, with Villa listed as the home side in the Premier League fixture list. Forest left with all three points. Villa were left still searching for a first league win, according to The Guardian.

Forest struck first. Liam Delap opened the scoring in the 46th minute with a low strike straight after the restart.

It was his first goal for the club. Delap is Forest's £45m record signing, and the goal ended a run of 29 appearances without scoring, as noted in The Guardian's live coverage.

Villa hit back. Alysson, listed by the Premier League as a Villa forward, made it 1-1 in the 74th minute with a header from John McGinn's cross.

Forest found a winner. Igor Jesus scored the decisive goal, finished after a backheel assist from Morgan Gibbs-White — a backheel is a pass or flick made with the heel.

Jesus is a Brazil international who joined Forest in a summer move from his homeland, as described in an interview on the club website. His strike settled a tight second half and gave Forest momentum after a slow start to the campaign.

What makes this stand out is the timing for both clubs. Forest get lift-off. Villa are still waiting.

The clubs met in the league on 3 January 2026, when Villa won 3-1, according to ESPN. This time Forest turned the result around.