Henri Lansbury netted a late equaliser as Nottingham Forest came from behind to secure a point in a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in Sunday's Championship clash at Villa Park.
It did appear that Villa had done enough to secure the points when Ross McCormack and Rudy Gestede turned the game on its head, but Lansbury scored a 87th-minute equaliser to level the scores.
It was Villa that utterly dominated proceedings in the first period, with Roberto Di Matteo's side having 10 attempts to Forest's one, although only twice was Vladimir Stojkovic tested in the away side's net.
McCormack had a glorious chance to send the home side one goal ahead just past the 30-minute mark, but the striker turned a Jonathan Kodjia cross wide of the post from close range.
Jordan Ayew also came close on two separate occasions late in the first period, but he just failed to connect on a low McCormack cross, before firing over at the far post in the 41st minute of action.
Villa continued to dominate early in the second period, but Forest took the lead in the 57th minute when Apostolos Vellios found the back of the net with a thunderous strike from distance.
Villa came close to equalising less than two minutes later when Ayew struck an equally-impressive effort from distance, but the ball smashed the crossbar, before the Forest goalkeeper kept out another Kodjia header.
The home side were level in the 72nd minute, however, when Ayew set up McCormack and the summer signing swept the ball low into the bottom corner to score his eighth career goal against Forest.
Less than two minutes later, Villa completed the turnaround as Ayew supplied another cross, this time for Gestede, who managed to turn and hook the ball into the corner under pressure from Eric Lichaj.
That was not the end of the drama, however, as Lansbury scored a 87th-minute equaliser for a Forest team that lost Hildeberto Pereira to a red card moments later for his celebration among the supporters.
Villa remain 17th in the Championship table, while Forest have moved into 10th position.
Matt Law
