Liam Delap delivers barnstorming second-half display for Nottingham Forest, while Aston Villa boss Unai Emery fights his instincts and is beaten AGAIN by Oliver Glasner in 2-1 defeat, writes TOM COLLOMOSSE

Unai Emery may have won 12 major trophies in his career but when he faces Oliver Glasner the Spaniard seems as helpless as a kitten.

Aston Villa now have one point from four Premier League games and even though Emery greeted Glasner warmly before kick-off, the Nottingham Forest boss was the last man Emery wanted to see in the opposite dugout.

This was Glasner’s first win over Emery as Forest boss but his sixth in just eight matches. This was his fourth victory over him in the league alone, and his Crystal Palace side also defeated Villa in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. 

While Glasner’s reign is up and running after a first win at Forest, these are concerning times for Villa. They lost six key players over the summer and in his programme notes, Emery denied that his team had lost its spine. Based on this early-season showings, it is hard to agree with him.

Emery brought on Ibrahim Mbaye and Johan Manzambi (combined cost £100million) for their debuts and when Ian Maatsen was injured late on, Villa had to finish the game with 10 men as they had used all their replacements.

At that stage, the game looked to be heading for a draw after Alysson had cancelled out Liam Delap’s first goal for Forest but the visitors made the most of their one-man advantage as substitute Igor Jesus scored the winner two minutes from full-time.

Delap makes his mark

We cannot change the verdict from last week, when Daily Mail Sport wrote that Delap was not a £50million striker – and we stand by that.

However, with Ezri Konsa now at Arsenal and Pau Torres off injured after 25 minutes, Delap had an easier challenge against Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof – centre-backs with a combined age of 65. After a quiet first half, Delap produced a barnstorming display after the break. First he seized on a mix-up between Boubacar Kamara and Emi Buendia to fire home a fabulous drive from 25 yards, just 45 seconds after the restart. He had a second disallowed for a fractional offside – to the relief of Lindelof, who Delap held off with ease before hammering past Zion Suzuki.

What that must have done for Delap’s confidence. After a horrible season at Chelsea, Delap now has a coach who trusts him. Better days lie ahead.

Emery fights his instincts

It was fascinating to watch Emery go against his natural caution with new players and send on Johan Manzambi and Ibrahim Mbaye for their debuts after an hour.

Had the scores been level at that stage, Emery would surely have left it a little longer. Generally, the Villa boss favours a gradual approach with new signings as he believes they take time to master his instructions. In an ideal world, the new pair would not have been brought on until much later, if at all.

Mbaye made more of an impact than Manzambi as his shot led to the corner that brought Villa’s equaliser but both players will need time.

The greater worry for Villa is that they may go into next week’s match at Tottenham without a single member of their first-choice back four. Konsa and Lucas Digne have departed, Matty Cash is injured and Pau Torres picked up a knock here, as did Ian Maatsen.

North Stand quandary

To have any chance of closing the financial gap to the elite, Villa need to expand and have decided to rebuild the North Stand this season.

Their ambitious target is to have it open again at the start of next season but in the meantime, they are playing in a three-sided ground. This stadium has been a huge asset to Villa during the Emery era yet they will find it difficult to recreate that fearsome atmosphere this term.

Emery knew this all along. When former chief executive Christian Purslow proposed expansion at the end of the 2023-24 season, the Spaniard pushed back as he could not face the idea of playing Champions League football in a partly-built ground.

UEFA’s punishing spending rules mean they now have no option to press ahead. These are early days but so far, the cost of this reconstruction is far outweighing the benefit.