Nottingham Forest held Liverpool to a 1-1 draw, with Matz Sels, Chris Wood and The City Ground atmosphere playing their part as Forest moved up to second in the Premier League. George Edwards was at the match
A point against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest felt disappointed: wow, how far they have come.
Forest were bombarded aerially and positionally for 90 minutes, a situation that they thrive in and almost invite, and on the balance of play might be the luckier of the two sides to have claimed a point.
Yet there was still a sense of disappointment around The City Ground at full-time against Liverpool.
Bodies on the line and stamina fully burnt out, Forest left everything out there and had the lead for so long, with even the manager holding out on his traditional defensive substitutions until the very end, risking defeat to strive for victory.
Forest’s seven-match winning run seemed like it would never stop, and all inside The City Ground and watching around the world had a sense that Forest might just nick it, to really liven up the Premier League title race.
The win wasn’t meant to be, but it’s a point that moves Forest into second, six points clear in the Champions League places, and one that proved to the land that they sit there on merit.
Carried over the line by the crowd
Eleven deflated and exhausted players were tasked with holding out for a point with 20+ minutes remaining against the Premier League leaders — talk about an uphill battle.
However, this immense struggle was recognised by the 27,000 Forest supporters packed inside The City Ground, raising the noise to levels not seen since their Premier League return and reigniting the battle that was slowly burning out.
Scarves aggressively swung above heads and vocal cords stretched to their absolute maximum, an atmosphere to make every hair tingle with pride and spirit.
Not just from A Block, but from all corners and sides of Forest’s world-famous home did the noise flood in from, reaffirming to Arne Slot and the rest that the real, original Reds are slowly clambering back to their once renowned perch.
Evangelos Marinakis was positioned right in the centre of the noise as the Peter Taylor Stand shook with venom; if ever there was an indication of just why Nottingham Forest and The City Ground should remain together forever, that was it.
Matz Sels
Is the best-performing goalkeeper currently in the Premier League.
Time and time again this season Forest have come away with points thanks to their Belgian brick wall, with last night no exception and perhaps the best example to date.
Sels was forced to watch with deep focus for the majority of proceedings, with Liverpool dominating possession and territory, yet was only called into action five times. But when he was needed, he was ready, poised with instinct and agility to shut out the vast majority of Liverpool’s goalbound efforts.
Spectacular stops to deny Cody Gakpo, thwart Mo Salah and smother Diogo Jota, all in the second half, stood out as Sels continues in his season of excellence.
He’ll be disappointed to have been grappling with Gakpo rather than punching to safety as Jota scored against Forest again, but he more than made up for that with his catalogue of greatness.
Sels wasn’t alone in Forest’s last-ditch heroics, with two Ola Aina goal line clearances and a fantastic interception from Murillo in the first half further frustrating the league leaders. Mo Salah was silenced once again, this time by his ex-teammate Neco Williams, who persisted and remained fully focused on shutting down the Egyptian throughout.
They were undoubtedly going to concede chances to Liverpool, but their ever-excelling defence was always going to keep them to a minimum and do everything in their power to keep them out.
Chris Wood again
If Forest need a goal, you can almost put your house on who will be there to score it.
The Reds defence excelled last night where their attack largely faltered, mustering just six shots throughout the match, meaning they had to make their rare forays forward count.
Thankfully for Forest, they have one of the most confident and clinical strikers in world football at their disposal, burying his only chance of the game in deadly and lethal fashion.
Inside left channel, eight minutes played after Forest had barely strung together three passes, on his weak foot and with the red side of Nottingham holding their breath. Step forward the coolest man in the city, slashing the ball in the one place Alison Becker couldn’t get to and giving the Reds a fairytale opening to that encapsulating contest.
Besides the goal and, when the majority of the legs had gone, Wood’s hadn’t.
Later on, two counterattacks failed for Forest in quick succession as Liverpool chased the winner, with the front four left marooned and out of possession. Anthony Elanga, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Morgan Gibbs-White slumbered where Wood strode, sprinting back to aid the defensive task before doing the same to get back forward once Forest regained the ball.
Everything about Wood’s game makes you feel proud to have him leading the line for Forest, now just two goals away from breaking his own personal Premier League scoring season.
Forest are a side feared
Liverpool had been fearing this game.
Sections of their fanbase were quaking in their boots at the prospect of visiting Nottingham, and it’s been well documented that Forest have lived in Arne Slot’s head rent free since that famous old win last September.
They didn’t underestimate Forest this time yet were still frustrated by their defensive resolve and, particularly first half, looked devoid of ideas once Forest took the lead.
Nuno’s Reds are now eight games unbeaten in all competitions, with just one goal conceded in over 550 minutes of play, and haven’t been behind in a game for over a month.
Despite being respected, Forest still cannot be beaten.
Liverpool had scored two or more goals in their last 12 league games and had only dropped points at The Emirates and St James’ Park on the road, but couldn’t beat Forest (twice). Brentford were unbeaten at home, but lost to Forest. Everton took points off Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, but lost to Forest.
The list could go on.
This amazing season could go on and will go on with the same spirit and freedom that allows Forest to express themselves to their absolute strengths. Reset, recharge and go again the message, as the wheels on Forest’s storming steam train remain well and truly intact.
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