Aston Villa held off a spirited comeback attempt from Nottingham Forest to secure a 4-2 Premier league home win on Saturday, with the hosts' Douglas Luiz netting twice and striker Ollie Watkins and winger Leon Bailey setting each other up to score.

Bailey teed up Watkins to open the scoring in the fourth minute and Luiz added two more in a dominant first half by Villa before a goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time by Moussa Niakhate earned the visitors a lifeline.

Morgan Gibbs-White pulled another one back for Forest three minutes after the break, but Bailey steadied the ship in the 61st minute, reacting first to a deflected effort from Watkins to slot home and restore Villa's two-goal cushion.

Forest battled hard but fell short of another comeback as Villa held on for a win that kept them fourth in the table on 52 points, three behind Arsenal. Forest are 16th on 24 points, four above the relegation zone.