By Korede James
Super Eagles stars Ola Aina and Taiwo Awoniyi were missing from the Nottingham Forest squad on Saturday as the club suffered a setback in the English Premier League race for UEFA Champions League spots with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park.
Both Aina and Awoniyi sustained injuries in Forest’s last two matches and were unavailable on Saturday.
Villa scored two goals in two minutes early in the first half, with Morgan Rogers and Donyell Malen netting in the 13th and 15th minutes respectively.
A much-improved second-half performance from Forest led to half-time substitute Jota Silva reducing the deficit on 57 minutes.
Forest’s pressure for the equaliser did not yield fruit as the hosts were able to extend their winning streak to seven games in all competitions.
Unai Emery’s side rose to sixth with the victory, level on points with fifth-placed Manchester City, who face Manchester United on Sunday, while Forest remain third, missing the chance to close the gap on second-placed Arsenal.
With the Gunners dropping points against Everton earlier on Saturday, Forest could have closed the deficit to just two points.
Forest could even see their cushion in third place cut to two points if Chelsea beat Brentford on Sunday.
The Premier League is on course to earn a fifth Champions League spot for next season following strong performances by their clubs in Europe this term.
