Douglas Luiz brace helps Villa beat Nottingham Forest in six-goal thriller | first division

See weakness, exploit weakness. Unai Emery is a master at it, and Nuno Espírito Santo is the latest top-flight coach to have been outmaneuvered. Aston Villa's stuttering in the middle aside, this was a shining example of precisely what Emery has done in his career: focus on the opposition's deficiencies and exploit them.

Sometimes modern football seems accessible only to doctors, a myriad of spreadsheets and shifting forms. However, the game also retains a beautiful simplicity. Here, Villa simply exploited a mismatch that stood out like a lemon in a basket of cranberries when the teams were released: Leon Bailey, Villa's tormenting full-back, against an out-of-position Moussa Niakhaté. It looked like a disaster in the making and appearances were not deceiving. Not that Niakhaté was alone in his defensive incompetence.

By making a triple change at half-time, Nuno in effect turned over the remaining managerial chess pieces and reset. The central couple Felipe and Murillo bathed before their teammates. Both had already been reprimanded, which explains how Niakhaté survived.

The switches were totally necessary. Such was the ease with which Villa had opened up a three-goal lead, even the much-maligned sweat-retaining shirts they donned in August would have remained dry.

Scoring Villa's first goal, Ollie Watkins equalized Mohamed Salah in the 24th. first division Goal implications this season. Douglas Luiz soon added home league goals number eight and nine of the campaign. The Brazilian, let us remember, is number six.

Admittedly, Forest caused some stomach churning either side of half-time, courtesy of Niakhaté and Morgan Gibbs-White. But Bailey soon soothed homely stomachs and was rewarded for another high-voltage outing.

It was a welcome return to the ruthlessness that Villa has lacked in their recent trio of consecutive defeats at Villa Park. “We focused on personality and trying to control the game with our style,” Emery explained.

“It was a fantastic 90 minutes. In the first part I felt comfortable and confident. We started the second half with some doubts, but our reaction was fantastic.”

The newcomers were still being admitted when Niakhaté vacated Bailey, who was hugging the touchline. A change of pace and a deft tap through Murillo's legs later, Bailey gave Watkins a gift. Felipe was also crazy about the cross: it turned out to be a door to an afternoon of punishment.

In trying to follow Bailey thereafter, Niakhaté at least showed signs of learning lessons in real time. However, inexplicably, just before the half-hour mark, he showed Bailey his stronger left foot, allowing the Jamaican to find Matty Cash's clever bottom. Douglas Luiz soon arrived and Emery celebrated him like a gym user on a pulley machine. The subsequent Gibbs-White reunion had little positive impact on Forest. From a recycled corner, John McGinn slalomed into enough space to allow him to make a perfect cross. Douglas Luiz stood up to receive him.

Forest had offered nothing resembling an attacking threat when, in first-half injury time, Niakhaté chested a lifeline. The visiting fans half-sang about a famous comeback.

Those screams increased shortly after the break. Nuno had also introduced Divock Origi, and his first significant involvement was a shoulder drop and drag. His second was a pinpoint pass that deftly met Gibbs-White's diagonal burst. Game on.

Things got hectic. What had seemed like a gallop began to scream a catastrophe in the making. For Villa, Youri Tielemans hit the base of a post. For Forest, Anthony Elanga squandered a glorious opportunity to level.

Bailey eventually restored Villa's two-goal lead but the opportunity presented itself to Andrew Omobamidele, another arrival on the break, who played a short, lazy pass which Tielemans intercepted.

“It was too easy for rivals to score,” Nuno said, although he insisted that he does not regret being selected in the team.

“(Niakhaté) can do the job there,” he explained. “That wasn't the problem.” He also confirmed that Nuno Tavares would miss an important period with an unspecified injury. Emery was more hopeful with Pau Torres, who retired at half-time.

Forest must continue to cast nervous glances at Luton, four points behind and with a game in hand. And that is before any possible sanctions for non-compliance with profitability and sustainability standards.

The final whistle provoked an enormous local roar, matched in volume only when it was announced that Manchester United had been defeated. Does the Champions League catch your attention? The Holte End thinks so.