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Nottingham Forest made it back-to-back wins by beating Aston Villa 2-1 at the City Ground on Saturday evening.
Nuno Espirito Santo saw his team come from behind in the contest to win the game in the third minute of stoppage time when Anthony Elanga pounced...CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
The Forest winger scored for the first time since February against Villa and after the game, Elanga made positive comments about goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
This game was all about the brilliance of Forest, however, and from the moment Jhon Duran fired Villa into the lead Espirito Santo’s team were simply brilliant and richly deserved the victory.
Morgan Gibbs-White of Nottingham Forest celebrates victory during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa at the City Gr…
Nuno Espirito Santo makes brilliant Morgan Gibbs-White tweak
After a goal and an assist last week at Old Trafford, it looked as though Gibbs-White played himself back into some form.
As a result, he once again started the game against Villa in his usual number 10 role, with Elliot Anderson wedged in as well.
When Forest went behind, Espirito Santo had to get creative and what he did with Gibbs-White proved to be an absolute masterstroke.
He summonsed Jota Silva from the bench and when the number of Ryan Yates came up on the board it was clear that Forest were going for it.
Gibbs-White slotted into a deeper role playing as the number eight and it was a position that he appeared to absolutely thrive in.
The 24-year-old teed up Nikola Milenkovic to head home the equaliser and he was also influential in a goal scored by Chris Wood that eventually got chalked off by VAR.
Morgan Gibbs-White stats vs Aston Villa
What a performance!
From the moment the £25 million Gibbs-White went into the number eight, Forest started to create chances, keep the ball and at times Villa couldn’t get near them.
| Morgan Gibbs-White vs Aston Villa | Total |
| Minutes | 90 |
| Assists | 1 |
| Big chances created | 2 |
| Successful passes | 51/54 |
Gibbs- White is obviously quality when he plays as a 10 too but with Anderson to get into the team as well, this could be an option going forward.
As well as the statistics above, Gibbs-White also completed two of the three successful dribbles he attempted.
Elsewhere, he won both of the headers he challenged for and defensively he managed one clearance which was a big one in the closing stages of the game.
Any talk of Gibbs-White being dropped due to his sporadic form is nonsense and he’s one of the most technically gifted players in the team.
However, after yesterday, perhaps the talented England international will find a home in the Forest team playing in a slightly different role...CLICK TO READ THE FULL NEWS HERE▶▶
