Nuno Espirito Santo praises Nottingham Forest desire as late fightback sinks Aston Villa in EPL
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Nottingham Forest players celebrate after Anthony Elanga scored the second goal in the 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Dec 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – Nuno Espirito Santo acknowledged Nottingham Forest’s “heart and desire” after they climbed to fourth place in the English Premier League with a stirring fightback to beat Aston Villa 2-1 at home on Dec 14.
His team find themselves in an unusual place in the table, and could drop a spot following fifth-placed Manchester City’s clash with rivals Manchester United on Dec 15. The result of that match was unavailable at press time.
Still, it has been an impressive season for the Tricky Trees so far.
With just three minutes left at the City Ground, Forest were trailing to Jhon Duran’s 63rd-minute header for top-four rivals Villa. But they levelled when Nikola Milenkovic’s header crept past Emiliano Martinez’s weak attempted save.
And former United winger Anthony Elanga’s composed close-range finish in stoppage time sealed Forest’s third victory in their last four games.
“It is a huge moment,” Nuno said. “After the team went down, the reaction was good. This match was incredible. The players gave everything and had a desire to go beyond football.
“The ending was amazing, the belief and the desire. I was not calm. I was nervous as hell.
“It’s not football any more. It’s about belief. It’s about bouncing back from a hard moment and go again when you are not full of energy but you have the heart.”
After battling to narrowly escape relegation last season, Forest have exceeded all expectations this term, winning eight and losing just four of their 16 league games.
They are the only team to beat leaders Liverpool in the Premier League this season and Villa were no match for the spirited group put together by former Tottenham Hotspur boss Nuno.
Even a world-class save from Martinez to deny Nicolas Dominguez’s close-range effort and a close video assistant referee (VAR) decision to rule out a Chris Wood strike for offside could not knock Forest off course.
The former European champions might not be back to the glory days of Brian Clough’s reign just yet, but Nuno urged them to soak up their time near the top.
“We try and try every day to build something nice that we can identify with the club, the city,” he added.
“It is an important moment that we feel when things go against you and you react, that is what I appreciate the most. I think it is about enjoying. We are working very hard and with clear plans of improvement and build the team.
“It is also about taking advantage of the moment we have.”
Villa have conceded 25 match-winning goals in the 90th minute or later in the Premier League, a total exceeded only by Tottenham (27).
“Nottingham Forest are very aggressive in attack,” said their manager Unai Emery. “We lost the control completely in the final 20 minutes because they started pushing more and made some changes.
“We had to keep the possession and should have tried to attack and score the second goal. We will analyse the first 70 minutes and also the last 20 minutes and where we have (to) improve is very clear to me.” AFP, REUTERS
