Aston Villa 5 Nottingham Forest 5 - Report and pictures

Villa and Forest both displayed their fearsome firepower and glaring weaknesses in a game which was pure entertainment for the spectator but infuriating for the bosses, Dean Smith and Aitor Karanka.

Ultimately, the fighting spirit which saw Villa dig themselves out of a hole not once, not twice but thrice counted for only a point as Lewis Grabban, their one-time loan star, took advantage of slack defending and questionable goalkeeping to haul Forest level with just eight minutes remaining.

A lifetime earlier, it was Grabban who started the ball rolling when he opened the scoring inside three minutes.

After six Forest led by two, through Joao Carvalho. After 14, Villa were level, as Tammy Abraham scored the first of four goals he would score on the night - the first Villa player to achieve the feat since David Platt 30 years ago.

Abraham would complete his hat-trick before the break but only after Matty Cash had restored Forest’s lead.

Joe Lolley, a lifelong Villa supporter, put the visitors back in front with a sensational strike early in the second half.

Tobias Figueiredo’s dismissal, for a rash challenge on John McGinn, appeared to have given Villa the initiative and they soon led, as Abraham and substitute Anwar El Ghazi struck in quick succession.

But they were denied what would have been a fourth straight win by Grabban, as their weakness at the back came back to haunt them one final time.

What this means for Villa’s promotion aspirations is frankly anyone’s guess. The only certainty, on this evidence, is that the next few months will not be dull.

Villa’s team featured two changes from the one which started against Blues.

It included a return for McGinn following his recovery from a calf strain and, perhaps more notably, a first Villa start for Bolasie.

Sunday’s win over Blues had been lauded as one of the finest Second City derby’s for several years.

Yet it was positively pedestrian compared to what transpired here. The first 36 minutes saw six goals scored, three in each net and a hat-trick for Abraham.

Forest were two goals up inside the opening six minutes with Grabban, who scored eight times in 18 appearances while on loan at Villa Park last season, taking less than three to find the net.

The goal, in what would quickly become a theme, came after hosts lost possession in their own half.

Carvalho ran at the centre of Villa’s defence before finding Lolley, who from the right hand side of the box swept in a low cross which Grabban side footed beyond Orjan Nyland from close range.

The second goal, less than three minutes later, followed an eerily similar path. Again Villa gave the ball away cheaply and this time Lolley found Carvalho who rolled a finish into the far corner.

Stunned into silence, Villa Park was soon on its feet as, within eight minutes, the hosts engineered a comeback.

It was Bolasie who provided the spark, whipping in a vicious cross from the right which Abraham, rising near the penalty spot, nodded beyond Costel Pantilimon.

The equalise was far scrappier. Conor Hourihane’s corner was cleared only as far as McGinn and when the shot drilled a low shot on goal, Pantilimon was unable to hold.

With the ball bobbling tantalisingly on the six-yard box, Kodjia forced it toward goal and though Grabban was there, his attempted clearance was charged down by Abraham at point blank range and Villa were level 14 minutes in.

It took another eight for the next goal to arrive and it was Forest who scored it.

James Chester was guilty of giving the ball away and when Lolley advanced, Villa’s defence again parted, this time allowing Cash to collect a pass and lift a finish over Nyland.

In front once more, Forest sat back and Villa were looking short of ideas before being gifted another leveller.

Robinson appeared to have Bolasie well covered as the winger made his way toward the byline but then inexplicably dived in, bringing down his man and conceding the penalty. Abraham held his nerve to send Pantilimon the wrong way from the spot and complete his hat-trick with just 36 minutes on the clock.

Having spent much of the half battling to get back into the game, Villa will feel they should have been ahead at the break.

But Abraham, for once, misread the script when he directed McGinn’s stoppage time cross straight at Pantilimon from six yards out.

The striker also had a shot deflected narrowly wide of goal as Villa began the second half brightly.

Yet just six minutes in they were stunned as Lolley put Forest ahead for the third time on the night in stunning fashion. His 30-yard strike dipped and swerved on its way into the top corner, with Nyland helplessly rooted to his line.

It was a goal fit to win any game, except one as crazy as this.

Midway through the half, Forest were down to ten when Figueiredo dived in late on McGinn, right in front of the assistant referee.

From Grealish’s free-kick, Abraham rose to head home his and Villa’s fourth of the night.

Four minutes later, the hosts were ahead for the first time as El Ghazi, almost as if he was immune from the mania around him, calmly curled a shot into the top corner from the edge of the box.

With the man advantage, Villa really should have seen it out but with eight minutes remaining, Grabban hauled Forest level, holding off Axel Tuanzebe before firing a finish inside Nyland’s near post.

Villa twice had the ball in the net during the closing stages through El Ghazi and Elmohamady. But both were ruled out, the first for handball and the second for offside.

Teams

Villa (4-3-3): Nyland, Hutton, Tuanzebe, Chester, Taylor, Hourihane, Grealish, McGinn (Whelan 78), Bolasie (Elmohamady 82), Abraham, Kodjia (El Ghazi 66) Subs not used: Hogan, O'Hare, Doyle-Hayes, Bunn (gk).

Forest (4-2-3-1): Pantilimon, Darikwa, Figueiredo, Dawson, Robinson, Colback, Yacob, Cash (Dias 77), Carvalho (Hefele 70), Lolley, Grabban (Ansarifard 90) Subs not used: Guedioura, Osborn, Janko, Steele (gk).