Nottingham Forest come from behind to beat Aston Villa in late thriller

The Premier League returned with five huge games at the top and bottom of the table.

Here's how it all panned out.

Nottingham Forest turn it around against Aston Villa

Scorers: Milenkovic 87', Elanga 93' ;Duran 61'

Nottingham Forest boosted their European credentials as they came from behind to grab an impressive win over Aston Villa at the City Ground.

With neither side boasting a particularly strong scoring record, it was little surprise to see a cagey start to proceedings, with Jhon Duran and Ryan Yates both blazing well over when well placed.

Forest grew into the game as the half went on, but could not turn that improvement into efforts on goal, and the two sides combined for just a single shot on target across the first half of action.

Villa looked stronger as the second half began, with Lucas Digne proving a threat down the left flank.

But it was Forest who almost took the lead, as a Nicolas Dominguez header was clawed off the line in stunning fashion by Emiliano Martinez on the hour mark, much to the disbelief of the Forest fans behind the goal.

And a minute later, that shock was compounded as Jhon Duran rose highest at the other end to put the Villans into the lead.

The game began to open up as Forest sought an equaliser, with Martinez again called into action, while the visitors remained a threat on the counter-attack.

Just as the hosts appeared to be running out of ideas, substitute Elanga ran onto a delicious pass from Morgan Gibbs-White, before squaring the ball for Chris Wood to tap home an equaliser, before VAR came to Aston Villa's rescue spotting an offside in the build up.

It could do nothing to rule out Forest's effort minutes later though, as a Gibbs-White cross found the head of centre-back Milenkovic, who nodded home his second goal in a week to level the game.

And they found the net for a third time in 10 minutes to complete the comeback in stoppage time, as Elliot Anderson found Elanga with a cutback, who steered the ball through the legs of Emi Martinez to secure all three points for the hosts.

Two dropped points

Scorers: Gakpo 48' Diogo Jota 86'; Pereira 11', Muniz 75'

Liverpool dropped points at home to Fulham as the 10-man Reds drew 2-2 with the Cottagers.

It was the home side who came out of the blocks fastest here with Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo both having efforts inside the opening 10 minutes.

But it was the away side who took the lead on 11 minutes as Andreas Pereira's volley from inside the area found the back of the net.

A nightmare beginning to the game got worse for Liverpool as Andy Robertson was given a red card for a late challenge on Pereira.

Into the second half and Liverpool got an equaliser straightaway as Cody Gakpo headed in after great work from Mo Salah.

Fresh off the back of his assist, Salah really should have given Liverpool a lead but the Egyptian forward missed a gilt-edged chance.

Marco Silva's men weren't deterred though, and got themselves ahead again as Rodrigo Muniz came on and bundled in after great work by Antonee Robinson.

This wild game took another turn with four minutes to go as Diogo Jota came off the bench and bagged with a lovely finish inside the area.

Blunt Gunners

Despite almost constant pressure from the Gunners, Everton held out for a 0-0 draw at Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta's side welcomed the Toffees to the Emirates with Arsenal knowing that a win would take them above Chelsea and into second.

The Gunners enjoyed most of the possession early on but struggled to break down a rugged Everton defence. And despite enjoying five corners inside the opening half an hour, still it remained goalless in north London.

It took until the early seconds of the second half for Jordan Pickford to really be called into action as the England international produced a stunning save from Bukayo Saka.

Everton really were camped in their own box heading into the final moments but Arsenal failed to create anything too meaningful in front of goal.

Murphy magic

Scorers: Murphy 30' 60', Bruno 47, Isak 50'

Newcastle routed Leicester as Jacob Murphy netted twice in a comfortable 4-0 win.

Newcastle came into this clash having failed to win any of their last four games. Leicester meanwhile were rejuvenated thanks to the arrival of new boss Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Anthony Gordon was looking dangerous and after his effort was saved, the Magpies whipped in a corner for Dan Burns who then saw his header go over the bar.

The hosts had the momentum and they made that pay on 30 minutes as Jacob Murphy whipped in a glorious finish from the edge of the area.

Eddie Howe's side doubled their lead almost immediately after the break as Bruno Guimaraes headed home.

Two quickly became three as Alexander Isak put the three points out of reach for the visitors.

And then it was four as Murphy got his second of the game on the hour mark.

Late, late drama

Scorers: Cunha 72'; Doherty (OG) 15', Taylor 90+4'

Ipswich claimed only their second win of the season as Jack Taylor netted in injury time to give the Suffolk side a 2-1 victory.

Gary O'Neil remained in charge of the Molineux side despite claiming just nine points all season.

The Black Country club welcomed fellow strugglers Ipswich for a genuine six-pointer but it was the away side who took the lead.

Matt Doherty netted a comedy own goal on 15 minutes to give the Tractor Boys an early advantage.

Wolves managed to get themselves level with 15 minutes remaining though as Matheus Cunha gave his side a lifeline.

But it was the visitors who claimed the points as Jack Taylor netted the winner with virtually the last kick of the game.

There's a proper super Sunday in the Premier League tomorrow with the undoubted highlight coming from the Etihad as Manchester City host Manchester United.

📸 Shaun Botterill - 2024 Getty Images