Aston Villa boss Unai Emery knows his side missed the opportunity to show they can be contenders at the top end of the Premier League after going down 2-0 at Nottingham Forest.
Villa were below their best as they lost for the first time in six games as Forest won thanks to goals from Ola Aina and Orel Mangala.
Emery’s side, who have enjoyed an excellent start to the season, could have moved above Arsenal and into the top four, but they fluffed their lines.
“Today was a key moment, if we could really be a contender to be in the top seven teams and we lost the opportunity,” Emery said. “I believe in the players, I know they can but we have to be very demanding. We can’t concede chances like we did today.
“If we want to be in the top seven teams we have to try to reduce the mistakes we made today.
“The key moment in 38 matches is every match. Today was a key moment to take some distance with the other teams and get in the top-four positions but we lost this opportunity, now the next match against Fulham next week is a challenge and it is again a key moment.”
Forest took a fifth-minute lead when Aina converted from 20 yards and they doubled their lead after a rare Emiliano Martinez error shortly after restart.
The Argentina World Cup winner won the Yashin Trophy, effectively making him the best goalkeeper in the world, at last week’s Ballon D’Or, but this effort will not be winning him any awards after he could only palm Martinez’s effort into his own net.
Emery added: “We are human and we can make a mistake. I never punish the mistakes of the players because I want to try to get the confidence of everybody, practising, trying to do everything well and when we are facing other teams we have to be better than them.
“But never punishing mistakes, not only for Emiliano, for everybody.”
Forest won for the first time since September 2 with an impressive performance where boss Steve Cooper won the tactical battle against Emery.
Villa played with a high line and Forest exposed them with their pace.
Cooper said: “The players massively followed the game plan. I said to them, I’ve got real gratitude to them for committing to the plan we put in place.
“We came up against a really in-form team with loads of good players and an excellent manager. You have to respect them, but you have to look at a plan where you can win.
“I’m really pleased that the goals we scored were from how we thought we could create chances. Once you get there, you want the players to back themselves to convert.
“Even though they had a lot of the ball, I never really thought we would concede. I never felt the goal was getting peppered. Defensively, we were excellent, both tactically and our defensive intuition backed up with desire and commitment.
“I’m really pleased with the players. They showed a great attitude to the plan. It was an incredible atmosphere to support the players’ performance. I thought today was a really good example of what we’ve become over the last couple of years, and I think that needs a bit of recognition.”
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
