Match report

Nottingham Forest Defeats Aston Villa 1-0 in Europa League

Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest
1–0
FT
Aston Villa
Aston Villa
Apr 30, 2026

Nottingham Forest held off a spirited Aston Villa side to secure a 1-0 victory in their Europa League match. Chris Wood scored the only goal from the penalty spot in the 71st minute, which proved decisive despite Aston Villa's late surge.

Key Facts

  • • Nottingham Forest 1–0 Aston Villa
  • • Chris Wood scored the only goal from the penalty spot
  • • Ola Aina and Igor Jesus made late substitutions for Nottingham Forest
  • • Aston Villa made multiple substitutions, including Y. Tielemans receiving a yellow card
  • • The match was part of the UEFA Europa League

Lineups

Nottingham Forest

Formation: 4-4-2

Starting XI

  • 27 S. Ortega (G)
  • 34 O. Aina (D)
  • 31 N. Milenkovic (D)
  • 4 Morato (D)
  • 3 N. Williams (D)
  • 21 O. Hutchinson (M)
  • 16 N. Dominguez (M)
  • 8 E. Anderson (M)
  • 10 M. Gibbs-White (M)
  • 19 Igor Jesus (F)
  • 11 C. Wood (F)

Substitutes

  • 26 M. Sels
  • 67 K. Willows
  • 22 R. Yates
  • 29 D. Bakwa
  • 24 J. McAtee
  • 77 Z. Blake
  • 20 L. Lucca
  • 65 J. Hanks
  • 44 Z. Abbott
  • 51 A. Whitehall
  • 61 J. Sinclair

Aston Villa

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Starting XI

  • 23 E. Martinez (G)
  • 2 M. Cash (D)
  • 4 E. Konsa (D)
  • 14 P. Torres (D)
  • 12 L. Digne (D)
  • 24 A. Onana (M)
  • 8 Y. Tielemans (M)
  • 7 J. McGinn (M)
  • 27 M. Rogers (M)
  • 10 E. Buendia (M)
  • 11 O. Watkins (F)

Substitutes

  • 40 M. Bizot
  • 64 J. Wright
  • 3 V. Lindelof
  • 5 T. Mings
  • 31 L. Bailey
  • 21 Douglas Luiz
  • 22 I. Maatsen
  • 9 H. Elliott
  • 26 L. Bogarde
  • 18 T. Abraham
  • 19 J. Sancho
  • 16 A. Garcia

Timeline

  1. Aston Villa
    55' Aston Villa subst · Substitution 1
    Off: A. Onana · On: L. Bogarde
  2. Nottingham Forest
    69' Nottingham Forest Var · Penalty confirmed
    O. Hutchinson
  3. Nottingham Forest
    71' Nottingham Forest Goal · Penalty
    C. Wood
  4. Nottingham Forest
    75' Nottingham Forest subst · Substitution 1
    Off: Ola Aina · On: Z. Abbott
  5. Aston Villa
    78' Aston Villa Card · Yellow Card
    Y. Tielemans

    Foul

  6. Aston Villa
    78' Aston Villa subst · Substitution 2
    Off: L. Digne · On: Douglas Luiz
  7. Aston Villa
    79' Aston Villa subst · Substitution 3
    Off: E. Buendia · On: I. Maatsen
  8. Aston Villa
    79' Aston Villa subst · Substitution 4
    Off: J. McGinn · On: J. Sancho
  9. Nottingham Forest
    90' Nottingham Forest subst · Substitution 2
    Off: Igor Jesus · On: R. Yates

Match Stats

Stat Nottingham Forest Aston Villa
Fouls 7 11
Pass Accuracy 85% 87%
Offsides 2 0
Red Cards — —
Total Shots 11 10
Corners 5 7
Total Passes 389 379
Yellow Cards 0 1
Blocked Shots 3 3
Shots on Target 5 4
xG 1.56 0.79
Shots off Target 3 3
Possession 50% 50%
Goals Prevented 0.46 0.46
Accurate Passes 331 328
Shots Inside Box 9 7
Saves 4 4
Shots Outside Box 2 3

Key Match Notes

  • ▸ The match turned in Nottingham Forest's favor when O. Hutchinson was fouled in the box, leading to a penalty confirmed by VAR in the 69th minute.
  • ▸ Chris Wood's conversion of the penalty in the 71st minute gave Nottingham Forest the lead, which they maintained to secure the victory.