Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Defender Tyrone Mings summed up the Aston Villa mood as he slumped to the floor at full-time following a 2-1 defeat at home to Nottingham Forest.
Three defeats in their opening four games only leaves further questions for manager Unai Emery to answer following a summer rebuild.
Villa may have ended a run of 372 Premier League minutes without a Premier League goal but their problems remain.
If Coventry beat Brighton on Sunday, Emery’s side will sit bottom of the table.
It is the fourth time they have started a top-flight season without winning any of their opening four games, having done so in 1992-93, 1997-98 and 2025-26.
It mirrors last season – which ended with a fourth-placed Premier League finish and historic Europe League triumph – but those celebrations from May already feel like a lifetime ago.
Jesus hands Forest first win at Villa in 32 years
Emery questions why McAtee was not sent off
04:05
Figure caption,
Unai Emery post-match interview – Aston Villa v Nottingham Forest
A late Igor Jesus winner meant Oliver Glasner is now unbeaten in his eight games against Emery and, after a first win as Forest boss, he will view this as one of the sweetest.
Liam Delap scored just 45 seconds after the restart and, while Alysson levelled for Villa with his first goal in English football, the visitors were deserved winners.
Jesus pounced ahead of Aaron Wan-Bissaka with two minutes left to earn a first win at Villa Park since 1994 as Forest took advantage of Villa’s misfortune.
By then they were down to 10 men after full-back Ian Maatsen was forced off injured, with Emery using all his substitutes to add to their defensive problems.
There is a fear the left-back’s ankle injury could keep him out for a considerable time, meaning new signing Matteo Ruggeri will be called on, perhaps earlier than Emery would want.
The Villa boss complained Forest attacker James McAtee should have been sent off for the challenge which injured Maatsen, but refused to blame it for the outcome of the match.
“When we equalised the match could change but we finished with Ian Maatsen injured and with 10 players, we conceded so many chances in the last minutes and they scored the second goal and deserved it,” he said.
“But after watching it on TV, I think the VAR should call the referee because it’s a clear tackle behind the player and, for me, it should be a red card.
“Of course, they deserved it (the win), but the decision of the referee should be different. We finished the match in Brighton, two yellow cards for Joao Gomes, and we accepted it. But today, after the injury of Maatsen, and we’re finishing with 10.
“He didn’t want to injure our player but if we can watch it through the TV, it’s a VAR action, and to call the referee and should be a red card, and maybe finishing with 10 v 10 was maybe different in the match.
“But it’s not an excuse how we play the second half. We played so so poor, and this is our work and our responsibility or my responsibility.”
Centre-back Pau Torres was also replaced in the first half to leave Villa’s backline increasingly thin, with summer signing Taylor Harwood-Bellis omitted from the squad again.
Villa visit Coventry in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday before a trip to Tottenham and the £30m centre-back will be expecting a chance at the CBS Arena.
They were unable to cope with a rejuvenated Delap – who also had a goal disallowed – and the visitors had 22 shots.
Glasner’s men also had 32 touches in Villa’s box as an ineffective home attack struggled again.
Bar a comical scramble, where Victor Lindelof failed to net after a combination of Matz Sels, Murillo and the post denied him, they created little.
Nicolas Jackson was replaced at half-time with his replacement Tammy Abraham – a player Emery wanted to sell this summer – because Emery feared the Senegal striker would get sent off after an early yellow card.
Brazilian Alysson was also introduced and glanced in John McGinn’s cross against the run of play, before Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye – the pair costing a combined £98m – made their debuts as second-half substitutes, but were unable to make a difference.
Alejandro Garnacho was again an unused substitute, with the Chelsea loanee so far failing to impress Emery to get game time.
Ian Maatsen
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,
Ian Maatsen suffered an injury late on with Aston Villa having used all their substitutes
A first win at Villa Park since 1994 was deserved for Forest as the hosts’ home record continued to crumble.
They had not lost at home in the league for 12 months before Glasner’s former club Crystal Palace won 3-0 last August.
Since then – with Glasner also winning 2-1 with the Eagles in the Carabao Cup – Villa Park has become less of a fortress.
They lost four of their final 15 home league games last season, while also relying on late goals to rescue a point against Leeds and beat Brighton and Sunderland.
A 3-1 FA Cup exit to Newcastle also exposed the frailties at Villa Park, which have continued this season with an opening 1-0 defeat at home to champions Arsenal followed by the loss to Forest.
There are mitigating factors.
Along with a new squad after several key departures, the North Stand redevelopment has meant the capacity has been reduced and there are no fans at one end.
But the drop off at home should now be alarming.
Villa won at home when it mattered most at the end of last season – routing Forest in the Europa League semi-final en route to winning the competition and putting four past Liverpool to book a Champions League spot – but they need to rediscover the feeling which made them near-invincible in front of their own followers.
So often over the past few seasons, after a Villa equaliser, they have they gone on to win, but there was no grandstand finish this time, leaving Emery perplexed about why his side could not control the game.
“I don’t know why,” he said. “I want to see the match again and to understand why we lost our shape.”
Jesus instead had the final say to leave the Spaniard, who has provided solutions at Villa for so long during his tenure, searching for answers to revive his side’s fortunes.
