Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Aston Villa – Nikola Milenkovic taught lesson, Omari Hutchinson only bright spark
Nottingham Forest saw their Europa League hopes come to a crushing end on Thursday night as they were beaten 4-0 away at Aston Villa to exit at the semi-final stage.
The Reds held a one-goal advantage from last week’s opening leg at the City Ground, but that quickly evaporated when Ollie Watkins turned home from close range in the 36th minute.
The hosts dominated proceedings at Villa Park, and they made their pressure tell when Emi Buendia added a second from the penalty spot just before the hour mark.
Vitor Pereira’s side had made the trip to Birmingham with hopes of reaching a first European final in a generation, but they endured a nightmare evening under the lights, with John McGinn piling on the misery with a late double.
Forest crumbled under the pressure against Villa in the all-important second leg, and with that in mind, Football Insider rates the performances of every single Reds player.
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VISIT THE FOREST MATCH HUBNikola Milenkovic schooled by Ollie Watkins at Villa Park
Nikola Milenkovic has been a hugely reliable figure for Forest since his arrival from Fiorentina in the summer of 2024, but he failed them when they needed him most on Thursday night.
Pereira’s men were always going to need a watertight defensive display if they were to cling on to their first-leg advantage, but they looked all at sea at times.
| Stats | Milenkovic Totals |
| Accurate Passes | 29/31 (94%) |
| Defensive Contributions | 14 |
| Tackles | 3 |
| Dribbled Past | 1 |
| Duels Won | 4/7 (57%) |
| Penalties Conceded | 1 |
Poor displays from Milenkovic and Morato at the heart of the backline allowed Villa to get on top of the game, with the former looking particularly shaky throughout.
The big Serbian was schooled by Watkins, who had the beating of the Forest man in almost every battle between the pair across the 90 minutes.
He routinely made runs in behind that tested his marker, while he left him in the dust on several occasions.
It was a hugely disappointing display from the defender, who was given a lesson in one vs one play by Watkins all night, before he capped off his awful night with a needless pull for the penalty.
He let Pereira down when it mattered most, and with that in mind, he was worthy of little more than a 2/10 match rating.
Omari Hutchinson needlessly isolated
Omari Hutchinson has started to come out of his shell at Forest of late, as they finally look like they may get some return for the £37million that they paid to sign him.
The winger began the game in confident form on Thursday night, as he looked to test his marker in the early part of the evening.
Hutchinson looked capable of providing energy and a driving force to help Forest alleviate the pressure that they were put under, and he threatened to create something out of nothing.
However, the visitors simply couldn’t get the ball to him enough for him to have a truly telling effect on proceedings, on a night when he could have been the difference.
The starlet was the only bright spark for Forest in what was otherwise a hugely disappointing team performance, and he was worthy of a 6/10 rating.
Nottingham Forest player ratings vs Aston Villa
Stefan Ortega – 5
Jair Cunha – 5
Nikola Milenkovic – 2
Morato – 4
Neco Williams – 4
Omari Hutchinson – 6
Nicolas Dominguez – 5
Elliot Anderson – 5
James McAtee – 4
Igor Jesus – 3
Chris Wood – 3
Substitutes
Ryan Yates – 5 (46′ – On for McAtee)
Dilane Bakwa – 4 (71′ – On for Morato)
Lorenzo Lucca – 4 (71′ – On for Wood)
Jimmy Sinclair – N/A (88′ – On for Hutchinson)
Murillo – N/A (88′ – On for Cunha)