Nottingham Forest 1–1 Liverpool
by Layth Yousif
at City Ground
WHAT a magnificent game these two character-laden sides put on for a raucous City Ground, which roared its approval throughout a thrilling 90 minutes on the banks of the River Trent on Tuesday evening.
Nottingham Forest and Liverpool exhibited some of the best traits the Premier League can offer, including a display of outstanding full-blooded commitment amid an utterly raucous atmosphere in front of 30,249 fans to play out a thrilling 1-1 draw — leaving the neutral observer to conclude that Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are emphatically in the mix for the title.
Barely the strains of Forest’s goose-bump evoking fans’ anthem — adapted from Paul McCartney and Wings’ iconic Mull of Kintyre — had died down, than Nuno’s hungry side swarmed all over their reeling visitors with a relentless barrage.
Such stunning exuberance saw Forest take the lead through the heart-warmingly in-form yeoman Chris Wood’s clinical finish on 13 minutes — the stadium erupting in complete bedlam after the bustling Kiwi put the home side ahead with his 13th goal of a deservedly stellar season.
From a position of defensive dominance Forest’s mesmerisingly deep defence then proceeded to frustrate Arne Slot’s side at the other end.
The centre-back pairing of Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic were nothing short of magnificent, with Ola Aina and Neco Williams supplementing their work out along the flanks. While captain Ryan Yates, Elliot Anderson, Anthony Elanga and Wood also worked so hard amid such a raucous atmosphere.
After the interval, as Forest’s thunderously impressive energy levels understandably dipped after such Stakanovite grade outputs, keeper Matz Sels was outstanding in keeping Liverpool’s formidable attack at bay, with a string of excellent saves.
Now wonder boss Nuno praised keeper Sels after the match, saying: “He is in a good moment, full of confidence and keeping us in games. We are very thankful.”
However, Forest’s brave second-half redoubt was eventually punctuated by substitute Diogo Jota’s header with his first touch. The equaliser came 22 seconds after Slot threw on his number 20 shirt, alongside Kostas Tsimkas, whose corner the former angled past Sels to grab a point for Liverpool, in an inspired double switch on 66 minutes.
While being unable to recall a swap making such an immediate impact during his managerial career, speaking after the match, Slot, said: “I couldn’t have asked for more.
“I am also more positive about the second half than the first half, but if you play at this ground against this team, who are in such good form, hardly concedes a chance in every single game.
“You have to give credit to Nottingham because the way they defend, they throw themselves in front of shots, in front of every cross and then there is a goalkeeper that has an outstanding season this year and tonight again.”
It was breathless fare throughout, with Nuno’s extremely impressive Forest leapfrogging Arsenal into second place ahead of Wednesday evening’s north London derby. While Slot’s Liverpool showed character to come back from a goal down in such a thunderous cauldron that is the City Ground — even if they couldn’t ultimately turn one point into three.
No wonder Forest boss Nuno reflected afterwards: “It was a good game, entertaining. In the first half I thought we were organised, didn’t allow too many situations. The second half was like ping-pong.
“When Liverpool became stronger, when they had space, that was a dangerous moment. But I’m very proud of the team, the way they worked, the way they ran, up and down.”
As for the unyieldingly incredible atmosphere, Nuno paid tribute, saying the support of the fans was “Amazing. We didn’t have the ball for so much time, and they kept supporting us, realising that our opponent was so good. The support in the end, in the last seven minutes, we had the feeling they were giving something extra to our players.”