Nuno says it was £2.25m ace who saved Nottingham Forest vs Aston Villa, despite Anthony Elanga’s goal

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Nottingham Forest won 2-1 against Aston Villa with Anthony Elanga scoring the winner three minutes into injury time.

The game had taken had turn for the worse for Forest after Jhon Duran headed Villa into the lead on 63 minutes.

When Chris Wood had a goal disallowed for offside it felt like it might be one of those nights for Forest who were starring defeat in the face.

However, goals from Nikola Milenkovic and Elanga gave the City Ground crowd something to shout about to claim a third win from four games.

Jamie Redknapp hailed Nuno Espirito Santo after the win and he appeared to have the Midas touch when it came to his substitutions on the night.

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Nottingham Forest star praised by Nuno Espirito Santo

There were some seriously impressive performances wearing the Garibaldi on Saturday.

Redknapp was full of praise for Elliot Anderson as he set up the winning goal and he wasn’t the only player to shine during the outing.

Elanga impressed Theo Walcott but Espirito Santo actually chose to give some praise to a bit of a forgotten player.

After the winner, Forest still have four minutes of stoppage time to see out and that saw Willy Boly introduced from the bench.

Espirito Santo was impressed and felt that the experienced defender showed a great deal of professionalism.

He told Nottinghamshire Live: “What can you say about Willy Boly, for example? He has not been involved for so long but he comes in and was so influential in the game, saving us in the last minutes.”

Boly in numbers vs Aston Villa

It’s hard to imagine that Boly – signed for £2.5 million in 2022 – had much time to prepare for his latest Forest outing.

The Ivorian has not been seen for so long that coming on to see out a victory might not have been something he expected to do as he sat there on the bench.

But, Boly coped extremely well with the Villa onslaught for four minutes and helped the Reds claim a memorable three points.

Boly has been linked with a move to Saudi Arabia but it might just be more beneficial for the Reds to simply keep hold of him.

Espirito Santo knows that he can trust the central defender and for the sake of six months, Forest might just be better keeping him as a backup.