Aston Villa secured another vital win this weekend having seen off Nottingham Forest in a 2-1 win at Villa Park on Saturday evening.
Goals from Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen put us 2-0 ahead after just 15 minutes, as Unai Emery’s side made a brilliant start to the game and exposed flaws in Forest’s set-up to begin the encounter.
READ MORE: What Unai Emery said in assessment of Villa’s crucial win vs Nottingham Forest
Having taken such a commanding lead into the half-time interval, Villa looked on course to secure another important win, but the visitors certainly made life difficult for us after the break as they not only struck early on to half their deficit, but they went on to create a number of big chances which they failed to convert.
In turn, while there was a lot to like about our first-half display, Emery was rightly not happy with what he saw after the interval, and so while it’s another fundamental win in our pursuit of a top-five finish in the Premier League, there is still plenty to work on if we are to finish the campaign as strongly as possible.
Pivotal win in pursuit of Champions League football next season
Every game at this stage of the campaign is decisive in our pursuit of returning to the Champions League next season, and it’s been a case of so far, so good from Villa after wins over Brighton and Forest this week.
Securing wins over our direct rivals in the standings significantly strengthens our push to get back into the top five by the end of the season, and it continues to build momentum and belief within the group in our ability to achieve our objective.
While there are still many more crunch encounters to come which will determine how our league campaign goes, Emery and the players are delivering game-by-game currently to keep ourselves on track in impressive fashion.
Strength of Villa squad coming to the fore
Having made eight changes to the side that won in midweek, some considered it to be a risky move from Emery, especially against a top side in Forest.
That naturally raised concern over our ability to play with rhythm and balance given that many changes usually has an adverse effect on the performance, but we started superbly and secured a brilliant win.
Ultimately, that comes down to the strength of our squad, as despite those eight changes, we still put out an exceptional starting XI, while we had one of the strongest benches we’ve had in reserve when needed too. Villa have impressive strength in depth, and Emery utilising it in this way at a critical point in the season as we battle on three fronts will be fundamental.
Malen makes key impact in big week
Two goals in two games from Donyell Malen this week were huge for both him and the team, as he starts to make an impact at a pivotal moment in the year.
The Dutchman was asked after the game on VillaTV once again about being left out of our Champions League squad, but he gave a professional and magnanimous response in that he’s here for the long haul and he’s got a job to do for the team when called upon right now.
Villa will need contributions from everyone in this final stretch, but particularly with the emphasis on Malen delivering domestically, he hasn’t disappointed over the past few days.
Too early to say Villa are peaking at just the right time
In contrast to last season where we eventually limped over the line, Villa are gaining momentum and looking stronger as the weeks go on in the latter stages of this campaign.
That’s now seven consecutive wins across all competitions, and so we’re hitting good form at a crucial point to put together a big final push across multiple fronts.
Of course, it’s hoped that we’re peaking at just the right time and we’ve got plenty left in the tank, but the real crunch games are still to come and so we have to maintain this level of performance to keep picking up results before we know for sure that that’s the case.
Momentum continues to build in decisive two months
Jacob Ramsey recently emphasised that these last two months of the season have to be our best two months of the season if we are to achieve our goals.
Villa have positioned ourselves in a great spot as we look to secure a top-five finish in the Premier League and advance in the FA Cup and Champions League to keep our hopes of winning silverware this year alive.
We’ve seen how the top sides step up and go through the gears in this period in their pursuit of success, and it’s hoped that we’re seeing similar traits and qualities in this Villa squad now to get us where we want to be.
