Aston Villa beat struggling Nottingham Forest 3-1 at their home fortress on Saturday to ease the pain of their midweek mauling by Arsenal, leapfrogging Manchester City into second place in the Premier League.

Ollie Watkins’ strike on the cusp of half-time gave Unai Emery’s side a deserved lead and John McGinn grabbed a second early in the second period.

Morgan Gibbs-White pulled a goal back for the visitors, but McGinn took advantage of a brain freeze by Forest goalkeeper John Victor to restore Villa’s two-goal lead.

Villa’s 11-game winning streak in all competitions was brought to a shuddering halt with a 4-1 defeat at the Emirates on Tuesday, raising doubts about their ability to maintain a title charge.

But their impressive record at Villa Park remains intact — they have now won 11 straight matches since a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in August.

Villa started brightly on a bitingly cold day in Birmingham and were denied an early opener when Victor saved a Watkins shot from point-blank range with his legs.

Sean Dyche’s Forest, who came into the match on a three-match losing run, struggled to gain a foothold but the home side failed to take advantage of their dominance in a tepid first half.

The away team came close to taking the lead with their first shot on target when Emi Martinez was forced to dive to his right to deny Omari Hutchinson.

But the in-form Watkins gave Villa a deserved lead in the closing moments of a half in which they enjoyed nearly 80 percent possession.

The England man received the ball outside of the area from Morgan Rogers and slammed home for his fourth goal in three games.

McGinn doubled Villa’s lead in the 49th minute, side-footing into the net after a Matty Cash cross.

Villa appeared to be cruising towards all three points but Forest was back in the game in the 61st minute courtesy of a fine finish from Gibbs-White, who chipped past the diving Martinez.

But Villa was gifted a third goal in the 73rd minute when Victor inexplicably vacated his goalmouth to try to reach a long ball from Youri Tielemans even though there were defenders nearby.

Scotland midfielder McGinn collected the ball and remained cool, sidestepping Victor and stroking the ball into the empty net with his left foot from well outside the area.

The win leaves Villa on 42 points, three behind leaders Arsenal, and one ahead of City.

The Gunners are away at Bournemouth later on Saturday while Pep Guardiola’s men host managerless Chelsea on Sunday.

Forest remains one place above the relegation zone, four points clear of West Ham, who face Wolves later on Saturday.

AFP

Chelsea and its coach Enzo Maresca have reportedly agreed to part ways with immediate effect.

Daily voice reports that this was disclosed in a post on social media on Thursday by football transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano.

Romano wrote: “BREAKING: Chelsea and Enzo Maresca agree to part company with immediate effect. It’s OVER.

“Official statement to follow but all done after tension growing last 24/48h.

“Chelsea will now start working on new manager appointment.”

Earlier, the football transfer expert had stated that Chelsea and Maresca were ready to part ways ahead of Manchester City game.

He stated that their relationship is deteriorated and next formal steps are expected to follow soon to seal their division.

Chelsea later confirmed Enzo Maresca has left the club by mutual consent.

The club said: “During his time at the Club, Enzo led the team to success in the UEFA Conference League and the FIFA Club World Cup. Those achievements will remain an important part of the Club’s recent history, and we thank him for his contributions to the Club.

“With key objectives still to play for across four competitions including qualification for Champions League football, Enzo and the Club believe a change gives the team the best chance of getting the season back on track.

“We wish Enzo well for the future.”

Gabon’s Sports Minister, Simplice-Desire Mamboula, has announced sweeping sanctions following the national team’s poor outing at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), including the suspension of the entire squad, the dismissal of the coaching crew, and the banning of senior players Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Bruno Ecuele Manga.

The decision came after Gabon suffered a dramatic 3–2 defeat to the defending champions, the Ivory Coast national football team, on Wednesday, with Bazoumana Toure scoring the injury-time winner. The loss sealed Gabon’s third defeat in as many Group F matches, leaving the Panthers bottom of the group behind Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Mozambique.

“Given the Panthers’ disgraceful performance at the AFCON, the government has decided to dissolve the technical staff, suspend the national team until further notice, and remove players Bruno Ecuele Manga and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang,” Mamboula said during a televised address late Wednesday.

The video of the announcement was briefly taken down from official platforms hours after airing before being reposted on Thursday.

Gabon’s AFCON campaign had already come under review by the Council of Ministers following Sunday’s 3–2 loss to 102nd-ranked Mozambique, a result that confirmed the team’s failure to reach the knockout stage. Aubameyang subsequently returned to his French club, Marseille, citing a thigh injury.

Reacting to the situation, President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema described the team’s showing as damaging to the country’s image. “This has weakened part of our national identity,” he said in an official statement released on Wednesday. He added that the national team’s struggles revealed “a lack of method and the dispersion of resources,” and promised “strong and structural decisions” to restore discipline and ambition in sports governance.

However, the government’s intervention could attract sanctions from FIFA, which prohibits state interference in the management of its member football associations.