Two Goals by John McGinn Powers Villa Past Forest into Premier League's Top Two

Aston Villa rebounded from its first loss in two months by beating Nottingham Forest 3-1 on Saturday to climb into second place in the Premier League, while last-placed Wolverhampton finally got its first win.

Villa captain John McGinn scored twice in the second half, building on England striker Ollie Watkins' long-range opener in first-half stoppage time.

Morgan Gibbs-White reduced the deficit to 2-1 in the 61st minute only for McGinn to restore Villa's two-goal cushion after a poor piece of goalkeeping from Forest's John Victor, who raced out of his area in an attempt to collect a ball over the top. McGinn easily rounded Victor and slotted the ball home from 30 yards (meters).

Victor went off injured immediately after the goal.

Villa's 11-game winning run — which included eight victories in the league — was ended on Tuesday by a 4-1 thumping by Arsenal.

Unai Emery's team moved above Manchester City, which hosts Chelsea on Sunday, and three points behind leader Arsenal, which visits Bournemouth later.

Wolves beat West Ham 3-0 to end its historically bad start to a top-flight season.

No team has taken this long to record its first win in the Premier League since the competition’s inception in 1992.

Jhon Arias, Hwang Hee-chan and Mateus Mane scored first-half goals for Wolves, which moved onto six points, still 12 from safety with 18 games remaining.

The team is only six points behind next-to-last Burnley, which lost at Brighton 2-0, and eight off third-to-last West Ham.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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