1-0, min. 15, Dennis. 1-1, min. 22, Young.
Two first half goals saw Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa draw 1-1 in a tense encounter at the City Ground.
Emmanuel Dennis opened the scoring for The Reds, heading in a set piece in the 15th minute, but Ashley Young’s long range strike levelled the tie soon after.
Watkins had the ball in the net around the half an hour mark, but the offside flag denied the striker’s close range effort from counting.
Both sides seemed nervous and hesitant in a cagey affair in which both sides seemed determined not to lose.
Story of the match
Steve Cooper made five changes for Forest, handing a full league debut to Emmanuel Dennis.
Matty Cash returned to face his former club for the visitors and Emi Buendia also returned to the Villa side.
John McGinn looked to give The Villains the lead early on from a corner, but his effort was blocked.
Cash looked to whip the ball into the box from the right-hand side, but his cross was wayward and went behind for a goal kick.
Steven Gerrard’s side seemed happy to dominate possession in the opening stages of the tie, as they looked for an opening.
It was a slow and cagey start to the match though, as both sides struggled to create any meaningful chances.
Philippe Coutinho had a free kick from range, but could only find the wall from the set piece.
Ezri Konsa had to be alert to clear away a cross from Brennan Johnson as the hosts began to impose themselves in the game.
Dennis sparks the game into life
The Reds capitalised on their new-found confidence in the match, as Dennis gave Forest the lead in the 15th minute.
He managed to head the ball in from a set piece, taking advantage of poor organisation from The Villains’ defence to give Cooper’s side the lead.
Ollie Watkins looked to challenge Dean Henderson to an aerial ball, but the goalkeeper got to there first as Villa looked for an equaliser.
Morgan Gibbs-White was frustrated by a decision which saw a foul given against him despite the foul seemingly being committed on the former Wolves man.
Ashley Young levelled the game in the 22nd minute in style, scoring his first Villa goal in 11 years.
The Englishman picked the ball up from a clearance and smashed the ball beyond Henderson to give the visitors a fast response.
Watkins thought he had completed the turnaround in minutes when he put the ball into the net, but the flag was raised against the striker.
He had managed to get onto the end of Jacob Ramsey’s cross, but as soon as he wheeled away to celebrate, he saw the linesman had chalked off the goal, which VAR duly confirmed.
Cash made a strong block to prevent a cross being fired towards the back post as the match approached half time.
On the other wing seconds later however, Serge Aurier had time and space to pick out Cheikhou Kouyate at the back post, but his header was tame and was saved comfortably by Emi Martinez.
Douglas Luiz had a shot from a tight angle from a free kick, but the Brazilian’s ambitious effort was blocked by the wall.
He looked to cross to set up a teammate soon after, but it was easily cleared by a Reds defender.
Konsa was booked by referee Anthony Taylor for a cynical foul where he brought down Gibbs-White as the 22-year-old attempted to bring the ball forwards for the hosts.
Forest’s record signing had the opportunity to create a chance late on from a free kick though, eventually floating the ball well behind Dennis who had looked to get himself on the end of the cross.
It was 1-1 at the interval, and the contest had been approached quite cautiously by both sides barring a ten minute spell in which both teams scored.
The match was there to be won at the halfway stage, with the game evenly poised with 45 minutes left to play.
Villa’s strong start to the second half
Ramsey tried to drill a cross into the box to start the second half, but the ball was hacked away in The Reds’ box.
Coutinho cut in from the left-hand side and shot for Aston Villa, but his effort went high and wide of the mark.
Ramsey looked to play the ball across the face of goal to Watkins, but an important interception from Scott McKenna prevented Villa from taking the lead.
The Villains had made a clear attempt to exploit the wide areas early on in the second half and started the half the better side, working the ball effectively down the wings.
Gibbs-White burst forward for the hosts and shifted the ball to the right, but the attack lost momentum when Johnson was surrounded by the visitor’s defenders, losing the ball soon after.
Cash found Buendia in space, but the Argentinian was unable to pick out an Aston Villa player.
Watkins had a superb chance to give Gerrard’s side the lead, but Henderson was equal to his header which he had time and space to get away.
Gibbs-White went for goal with a curling effort on the edge of the box, which went just wide of Martinez’s goal.
McGinn had a great chance to put The Villains in front when the ball was cut back to him by Watkins, but the Scotsman went for a diving header as opposed to volleying home, and he could not find the target.
Henderson raced off his line to ensure that substitute Danny Ings was not presented with an opportunity from close range for Aston Villa.
Buendia had the chance to shoot with a free kick on the edge of the area, but he could not get his effort over the wall.
Forest pumped the ball into the box late on, but the ball was cleared away by the visitors.
Full time saw a the match end level, with Forest and Villa playing out a very cagey draw.
It may prove to be an important result for the hosts, who have struggled to pick up points of late and have been lifted off the bottom of table following the match.
Under pressure Villa boss Gerrard would have wanted a win against a struggling Reds side, but his team were not efficient enough in front of goal to test Henderson in goal apart from Young’s strike.
Player of the match
There was no obvious call for the award on the night, but Matty Cash was able to do do his job effectively in defence, and also provided a good option offensively out wide.
The Polish wing back managed to break down the right-hand flank several times, particularly during the start of the second half, which the hosts struggled to deal with.
It was a solid performance from the 25-year-old on his return to the City Ground.
