Villa bounce back from Arsenal loss, Wolves secure initial victory
Aston Villa recovered from a heavy loss against Arsenal by defeating Nottingham Forest 3-1 on Saturday, moving up to second place in the Premier League while West Ham suffered a heavy defeat to bottom side Wolves.
Unai Emerys Villa side now trails the league leading Gunners by only three points, with Arsenal set to play Bournemouth in the evenings match.
Villas run of 11 consecutive wins across all competitions ended abruptly with a 4-1 thrashing at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday, casting uncertainty over their title aspirations.
However, their strong home form at Villa Park stays unbroken, with 11 successive victories there following a 3-0 loss to Crystal Palace back in August.
England striker Ollie Watkins opened the scoring for Villa right before the break with a forceful shot from the edge of the box.
John McGinn extended the lead to 2-0 soon into the second half, though Morgan Gibbs-White pulled one back for Forest, offering a chance at a draw.
Yet Scotland international McGinn netted his brace from afar after a mistake by Forest keeper John Victor, who rashly rushed out of his goal.
McGinn gathered Youri Tielemans pass and kept his composure, evading the goalkeeper before slotting the ball home.
This result lifts Villa to 42 points, three adrift of Arsenal at the top and one clear of Manchester City, who face a team without a manager, Chelsea, on Sunday.
Villa manager Emery shared with Sky Sports that the team and staff discussed things after the Emirates setback.
"I am delighted," he stated. "We needed to regain our vigour and belief. At Villa Park, the atmosphere we generate played a key role.
"Forest put up a fight. Post Arsenal, we talked as a group. The players and coaches reviewed our season, our mindset, and the need to sustain our prior level of performance. We must stay united and resilient."
Sean Dyches Forest, enduring four league losses in a row, hold position just above the drop zone, four points ahead of West Ham, who fell to a costly 3-0 reverse at Molineux.
Wolves secure first victory
West Ham, without a win since early November, headed to Wolves urgently seeking points against a side that had collected merely three points by mid season.
Jhon Arias put the hosts ahead early on, and Hwang Hee chan added a second from the spot just past the half hour.
Youngster Mateus Mane fired in his debut Premier League strike near the interval, virtually ensuring Rob Edwards outfit their inaugural win of the campaign.
This outcome spells trouble for Nuno Espirito Santos squad, who risk isolation at the foot of the table alongside Wolves and Burnley.
West Ham centre back Konstantinos Mavropanos expressed regret to supporters over the "unacceptable" showing.
"We must train more intensely and grasp our predicament," he said to Sky Sports. "Theres just one path out of this, and it depends on us."
Wolves, who held Manchester United in their recent midweek game, see a spark of optimism, yet they are still 12 points shy of survival.
"We have shown growth and advancement, as evident today," Edwards remarked to the BBC. "Its yet another positive move forward, and its great that it resulted in a triumph."
In other Saturday action, Brighton overcame Burnley 2-0 thanks to strikes from Georginio Rutter and Yasin Ayari.