Oliver Glasner's Unbeaten Run Against Unai Emery Continues with 2-1 Win

Oliver Glasner walked out of Villa Park on Saturday with another win over Unai Emery – and another reminder to himself to stay grounded.

The 2-1 victory for Nottingham Forest stretched the Austrian’s unbeaten run against the Spaniard to eight games. Six wins, two draws. From Crystal Palace to the City Ground, Glasner has found a way to keep Emery at arm’s length.

He knows exactly where the balance of power really lies, though.

“I spoke to him before the game and told him that it was still 5-2 to him, in terms of European trophies won. I said to myself ‘Oliver Glasner, stay humble’,” the Forest head coach told reporters afterwards. “I will stay that way. Every win is great, but I did not play one second today. The players deserve all the credit, because they did so well. Our fans deserve the credit, because they supported us. Now we will go home and have a lovely Saturday evening.”

Chaos on the eve of kick-off

The win came against the backdrop of a chaotic final 24 hours.

Forest’s preparation was ripped up late on Friday when key defenders Nikola Milenkovic and Jair Cunha both pulled up with hamstring problems in the last training session. Scans confirmed the worst at 9.30pm. Glasner suddenly had a defensive crisis on the eve of a trip to Villa Park.

The solution came from a late-night knock on a couple of doors.

“We are pleased with the win, but much more pleased with the performance and most pleased with the resilience showed today,” Glasner said. “It was 9.30pm when we got the result of scans that told us that Jair Cunha and Nikola could not play. I knocked at Ola and Ousmane’s door and told them they would be playing. I spoke with Ola a little bit about playing in the back three. I told him I think he can.”

From there, Forest had to improvise. A reshaped back line, a tweaked system, and a bench stripped of specialist defensive cover. The margin for error shrank. The resolve grew.

Murillo’s decision to play

If the late reshuffle tested Forest’s organisation, Murillo tested his own body.

The Brazilian centre-back went into the game with pain in his knees, felt in training before the trip to Birmingham. With Milenkovic and Jair Cunha ruled out, his availability became non-negotiable.

“I can tell you now that Murillo had some pain in his knees before the game, in training. But he said ‘no, Gaffer, I will play’,” Glasner revealed, underlining the level of commitment in his dressing room.

His presence mattered. Forest’s defensive depth was already stretched to the limit. Against an Emery side that rarely lets up, they needed every ounce of experience and personality at the back.

The effort behind the scenes set the stage for the players at the other end to decide it.

Goals from Liam Delap and Igor Jesus delivered a memorable 2-1 win, with Forest holding firm as Aston Villa finished with ten men after an injury to Ian Maatsen. On the touchline, Glasner ticked off a sixth career victory over Emery. On the pitch, his patched-up squad emptied the tank.

Eyes on Coventry – and the treatment room

The celebrations in Nottingham will run through the weekend, but Glasner’s focus has already shifted back to the medical reports.

Forest face Coventry City on September 19, and they are braced to be without Milenkovic, who is set for a short spell out.

“Nikola was a bit more serious and will miss the Coventry game. We are hopeful that he will be back after the international break,” Glasner said. “We hope Jair could be back for the Coventry game. But we have to be cautious. Let’s see.”

The unbeaten run against Emery is a neat statistic. The real test now is whether Forest can carry this resilience into a period where their back line will again be patched together and pushed to its limits.