Nottingham Forest v Aston Villa ratings: Gibbs-White 7, Johnson 4; Young 8, Coutinho 4

A 1-1 draw at the City Ground moves hosts off the bottom of the Premier League table

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  NOTTINGHAM FOREST PLAYER RATINGS: Dean Henderson – 6. Had no chance of stopping Young’s strike but showed authority whenever balls were played into his box. Produced a poor throw when there was the opportunity to release Johnson. Made a great save to deny Watkins. AFP

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  Serge Aurier – 6. Booked for a silly sliding tackle on Ramsey but held his own defensively after that and delivered a good cross for Kouyate. AP

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  Steve Cook – 7. Booked for a late lunge on Ramsey in the opposition box but was impressive when defending his own goal, cleaning up when Watkins threatened to get in behind. PA

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  Scott McKenna – 7. Willing to put his body on the line for the team and showed persistence to deal with Watkins. Did brilliantly to cut out Ramsey’s pass to Watkins then made a strong tackle on the striker when he attempted to break through. Getty

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  Harry Toffolo – 6. Blocked Luiz’s shot well and provided other good defensive interventions but showed a lack of quality on the ball at times. Getty

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  Ryan Yates – 6. Put in a determined display and was incredibly unlucky to see his header land at Young’s feet for the equaliser. Wound up Ramsey by holding onto him and was booked for a barge on Watkins. Reuters

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  Cheikhou Kouyate – 6. Made a good tackle on Buendia in his own box, then had a decent header attempt at the other end but didn’t get enough on it to trouble Martinez. Hit a brilliant shot from range but got away with a poor header that went straight to Watkins. Getty

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  Remo Freuler – 6. Unconvincing in his efforts to block Young’s shot but showed good anticipation to cut out Cash’s pass into the box. Moved the ball well and made some more defensive contributions. PA

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  Brennan Johnson – 4. Didn’t always get the service he wanted but looked timid in a lot of his play, as was encapsulated when he completely missed a header unchallenged when the ball was played forward to him. Getty

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  Morgan Gibbs-White – 7. Picked out Dennis with his free-kick for the opener and made some impressive defensive interventions, including one to stop Cash getting in. Curled an ambitious shot wide after a good turn. Getty

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  Emmanuel Dennis – 6. Won the free-kick and headed in the opener, but a lot of his hold-up and link-up play were poor throughout most of the game as he often made the wrong decisions. Reuters

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  SUBS: Neco Williams (Aurier 58’) – 6. Made a good burst forward but couldn’t find the cross to match. Had a coming together with Ramsey. AFP

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  Sam Surridge (Dennis 71’) – N/R. Won a free-kick from Mings moments after coming on and was unlucky to see his attempted ball to Johnson cut out. PA

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  Lewis O’Brien (Gibbs-White, 90’) – N/R. Came on for the final minutes as Forest secured the point that lifts them from the bottom of the table. Getty

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  ASTON VILLA PLAYER RATINGS: Emiliano Martinez – 6. Had no chance of stopping Dennis’ header but did well to deal with Kouyate’s shot from range. Reuters

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  Matty Cash – 6. Made plenty of intelligent runs, with one creating space for McGinn to cross in for the opener, but he couldn’t get the quality on his own crosses. Did well in his defensive work. Reuters

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  Ezri Konsa – 6. Made an important clearance and showed quality with a pass through to Cash but was booked for fouling Gibbs-White as he tried to run through. Stood up well against Gibbs-White to block his shot. Reuters

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  Tyrone Mings – 5. Clumsily conceded the free-kick that resulted in the opener then did nothing to stop Dennis winning the header. Made an important header to stop Surridge’s ball finding Johnson. Getty

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  Ashley Young – 8. Hit a superb strike from range for Villa’s equaliser and did a job on Johnson, which included blocking the winger’s shot. AFP

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  Jacob Ramsey – 6. Made things awkward for Forest at times, putting Yates under pressure in the build-up to the equaliser. Played a driven pass to Watkins for the ruled out goal then saw a pass to his striker brilliantly cut out. Got himself into a couple of unnecessary altercations and was booked for a coming together with Williams. PA

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  Douglas Luiz – 5. Weak in his play on various occasions and he didn’t show the quality Villa will have been hoping for from his set-pieces at times. Whipped in a good cross for Watkins. PA

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  John McGinn – 6. Played some incisive passes, with one of those picking out Ramsey for the disallowed goal. Booked for a challenge on Johnson. Made an intelligent tackle on Dennis in his own box but his attempt at a diving header from a clear opening was poor. Reuters

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  Emiliano Buendia – 6. Had some promising moments on the ball and also showed a willingness to help his team out defensively. Won a free-kick in a great position but sent a tame shot into the wall. Getty

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  Ollie Watkins – 6. Provided a good knockdown in the lead up to the equaliser and had the ball in the back of the net but had his goal ruled out after being offside. Delivered good cross for McGinn’s attempt and showed persistence in his play. PA

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  Philippe Coutinho – 4. Invisible in the first half and beat Yates early in the second period before sending a wild shot comfortably off target. Getty

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  SUBS: Danny Ings (Coutinho 65’) – 6. Energetic and showed intelligence in his play at times but didn’t get any notable opportunities in front of goal. Reuters

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  Leander Dendoncker (McGinn 77’) – N/R. Did the basics well and got into some good positions, with one of his crosses forcing a strong defensive header. Reuters

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  Cameron Archer (Ramsey, 81’) – N/R. Made a complete mess of his header from Luiz’s free-kick delivery but had promising moments on the ball. PA

Nottingham Forest held visitors Aston Villa to a 1-1 draw in the Premier League on Monday, halting a run of five consecutive defeats and moving off the bottom of the table.

The draw took Forest into 19th place on five points from nine games, climbing above East Midlands neighbours Leicester City. Villa stayed 16th but moved onto nine points.

Forest went ahead in the 15th minute when striker Emmanuel Dennis took advantage of slack marking from the Villa defence to head in a free kick from Morgan Gibbs-White.

Villa responded in the 22nd with a superb Ashley Young strike from outside the area and thought they had taken the lead later in the first half when Ollie Watkins put the ball in the net only to be flagged offside.

Forest manager Steve Cooper, who made 22 signings in the close season, is still struggling to settle on a starting lineup and made five changes from the side thrashed 4-0 at Leicester last week.

His team managed to control the game and keep their opponents in check and after a frantic start the two sides mostly cancelled each other out in a drab second period.

Assessing the performances from the City Ground, Danny Lewis has provided his player ratings in the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.