Anthony Elanga played the role of super sub as Nottingham Forest scored two late goals to clinch a dramatic 2-1 win over Aston Villa to go fourth in the Premier League table.

Forest and Villa entered Saturday's late kick-off fifth and sixth in the standings respectively, with both knowing a victory would lift them into the UEFA Champions League places.

Chances were few and far between until the second half, when Jhon Duran – having replaced Ollie Watkins in the Villa attack – opened the scoring with a fine header.

Chris Wood saw a potential leveller disallowed for offside following a VAR review, but Forest continued to push for an equaliser and drew level courtesy of a powerful Nikola Milenkovic header in the 87th minute.

Substitute Elanga then completed the turnaround four minutes into stoppage time, side-footing home to ensure Forest climbed above Manchester City with 28 points, and three ahead of Villa.

How the match unfolded

Neither side carved out a chance of note in the first half-hour, with Forest centre-back Murillo the first to go close when he planted a header wide from Elliot Anderson's corner.

Forest went agonisingly close to opening the scoring after 60 minutes, but Emiliano Martinez sensationally clawed Nicolas Dominguez's stooping header off the goal line.

Villa made that reprieve count three minutes later, Duran producing a wonderful, floated header from John McGinn's cross to beat Matz Sels.

Forest thought they had levelled with eight minutes remaining as Wood slid Elanga's cross home, but a VAR review established the latter had been offside after being slipped in behind by Morgan Gibbs-White, overturning Samuel Barrott's on-field decision to award the goal.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team would not be denied, though, with Martinez powerless to stop Milenkovic's thumping header from creeping over the line.

Villa were then left shellshocked in stoppage time, with Anderson getting to the byline before finding Elanga, who sparked wild celebrations with a calm finish into the net.

Forest dig deep for statement win

Forest have managed to make the City Ground a fortress lately, winning three of their last four home Premier League matches ahead of Villa's visit.

Having seen their team emerge as surprise contenders for a European place, the home fans were hoping to see a statement performance – Forest had lost each of their last six Premier League matches when starting the day inside the division's top five places.

They had to ride their luck at times on Saturday, but a statement victory was precisely what they delivered. They are now just four points off equalling their total from last season.

Villa felt they were unfortunate to be denied a penalty when Morgan Rogers went down under pressure from Anderson in the first half, and they also appealed for a foul when Anderson pressed high to dispossess Matty Cash in the build-up to the winning goal.

However, Nuno will argue his team made their own luck by producing a fighting performance. Refusing to let their heads drop after Wood saw a potential equaliser chalked off, Forest laid siege to the Villa area and always looked the more likely victors as the game entered stoppage time.

Forest could be displaced from the top four when Manchester City face Manchester United on Sunday, but something special is in the air on the banks of the River Trent. Brentford are their next opponents a week today.

Duran heroics not enough

Unai Emery's visitors entered this game having lost three in a row on their travels in the Premier League, their worst away run of form under the Spaniard.

Those away-day struggles would ultimately continue on Saturday, with Milenkovic and Elanga taking advantage of some slack defending to flip the contest on its head at the death.

However, if any Villa player deserved to come out of the game with some credit to his name, it was Duran.

Duran scored with a stunning, long-range effort after coming off the bench to replace Watkins at half-time as Villa beat RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Tuesday. With the England forward battling a niggling injury, Duran got his chance from the off in the East Midlands.

He showcased his all-round skills in the build-up to his goal, holding off the imposing figure of Milenkovic – a handful for any opponent – before darting into the area and generating all his own power to steer McGinn's cross into the roof of the net.

Duran has now scored on all five of his starts for Villa in all competitions this season and will be confident of keeping his place in the starting XI when Pep Guardiola’s side visit Villa Park next Saturday. The main task for Villa, though, will be sharpening up at the other end.

Club reports

Forest report | Villa report

Match officials

Referee: Sam Barrott. Assistants: Tim Wood, Wade Smith. Fourth official: Darren Bond. VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Craig Taylor.