Nottingham Forest defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at the City Ground today and Ola Aina was praised by Clinton Morrison. The defender opened the scoring after just six minutes when he caressed a long-range effort beyond Emi Martinez.
The Nigerian international was on the mark for the first time in the Garibaldi. Aina signed for Forest in the summer from Torino and has done a job in both full-back roles.
Forest deserved their win this afternoon. They kept an in-form Villa team at bay for the entire game and the clean sheet was almost as pleasing as the goals that were scored.
Morrison raves about Forest star Aina
The roof came off the City Ground when Aina pounced to open the scoring for Forest and silence the Villa faithful. It was a wonderful way to settle some pre-game nerves and the joy was etched on the player’s face.
Forest defender Aina impressed Morrison who was covering the game for BBC Sport. He told Radio 5 Live: “It’s a sidefoot and it has to be one of the hardest finishes I’ve seen but he guides it into the bottom corner. It’s a fantastic finish.”
Forest doubled their lead just after the half-time interval. Orel Mangala’s long-range effort was initially kept out by Martinez but the spin on the ball diverted it over the line.
Aina is proving a class signing
The Reds have made a lot of big-money signings since returning to the Premier League. One of their best pound-for-pound pieces of business, however, might be that of Aina from a Forest perspective.
He was on the fringes at Torino last season and they didn’t give him a new deal in the summer. That looks foolish on their part with the 27-year-old showing his class at Forest.
It was great to see a full-back getting forward and putting himself in an area to score a goal. Forest will have to share the goals around this season and hopefully, this will be the first of a few that Aina can chip in with.
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