Aston Villa 2 Nottingham Forest 0: Prince William sees beloved side win but result leaves Steve Cooper fighting for job
PRINCE William saw Ollie Watkins crown a memorable week for Aston Villa.
But the outlook remains bleak for Forest boss Steve Cooper.
Watkins earned another Royal seal of approval with his third goal in as many games in stoppage time – making it 13 for the season.
But it was Bertrand Traore who set up the win.
He was king for a day at Villa Park after coming off the bench for the second game running to grab another key strike.
It meant two goals in five days for a player who spent the first half of the season on loan with Turkish side Basaksehir after being frozen out by ex-Villa boss Steven Gerrard.
Future King, Prince William, was there with son Prince George – and Villa’s progress under Unai Emery is sure to have received Royal approval as European football looks increasingly likely since the Spaniard took over.
This made it four wins in a row for Villa who won at Chelsea a week ago.
But the day was not so good for Cooper – who was publicly backed the club’s owner Evangelos Marinakis this week.
Yet any hopes Cooper had of another bounce in form – similar to the last time he was supported by the Greek tycoon in October – disappeared as Forest slipped back into the bottom three.
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Forest’s miserable away record let them down again – despite any encouraging first half which saw them stifle Villa.
Whether Marinakis’ patience will hold out remains to be seen – his message of support on Wednesday included a warning that results must improve.
But Emery goes from strength to strength and now has 35 points from his 17 Premier League matches in charge at Villa.
Conference League football is now within reach, but the Europa League also remains a realistic target if this run continues.
Villa were not at their best here, but they had more than enough to fend of Forest in the end.
Cooper went into the game with a tweaked formation – with three central defenders and employing wing backs.
But in-form Watkins looked a threat early on as an early chance skimmed wide across the face of goal.
Leon Bailey then created another chance for Watkins after cutting in from the right, with the Villa striker’s close range effort deflected for a corner.
But it came at a cost as Bailey had to limp off with a hamstring injury.
He was replaced after 27 minutes by Traore.
Forest almost caught Villa cold three minutes later as Brennan Johnson raced clear and pulled the ball back for Morgan Gibbs-White.
He failed to connect though and air shot meant Villa got away with it.
Forest had to make a change of their own soon after as midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate came off injured – with Remo Freuler taking his place.
Jonjo Shelvey had been making his presence felt – and the Forest midfielder was booked by ref Anthony Taylor for a foul on Alex Moreno.
The Villa left-back had himself been yellow carded for a foul on Neco Williams.
Johnson was causing Villa problems and when he raced clear of his marker, he forced keeper Emi Martinez into a save – but the Forest forward was ruled offside.
Traore found himself with a clear chance to open the scoring after Watkins had missed his opportunity – only to blaze over the bar.
But he made amends after the break when his initial ball into the area was pushed out by Forest keeper Kaylor Navas.
And when it fell back to him, the ex-Chelsea forward netted with an angled drive.
It meant he had scored twice in two successive appearances as a substitute – his first goals in England in nearly two years.
Villa looked set for a second when Jacob Ramsey got the better of Felipe on the left flank.
He sprinted into the area only to be stopped by an excellent interception from Forest defender Joe Worrall.
Cooper responded after 65 minutes by sending on striker Taiwo Awoniyi and midfielder Orel Mangala.
But it was Villa who came within inches of increasing their lead.
Moreno outpaced Williams on the left and pulled the ball back for Emi Buendia who fired narrowly wide.