Just when it seemed nothing was dropping for Liverpool in a captivating contest, Arne Slot turned to his substitutes’ bench midway through the second half and exhibited his seemingly golden touch. Kostas Tsimikas and Diogo Jota entered, the former teeing up the latter at a corner to equalise courtesy of their first touches and keep Nottingham Forest, who continue to take great pleasure at gatecrashing the title race, at arm’s length. Even if it was an imperfect night for Liverpool, it felt a significant takeaway. Jota’s header was Liverpool’s first effort on target and the first goal Forest had conceded in more than 500 minutes.
For Forest, this is simply a ride supporters do not want to step off. At the final whistle their players were greeted with applause from all four corners of a throbbing stadium. This was another resounding display under Nuno Espírito Santo, another impressive step in an extraordinary season and a point lifts them to second, six points behind the pacesetters, who also have a game in hand. On this evidence, Forest may prove Liverpool’s fiercest challengers, especially with both Chelsea and Manchester City dropping more points.
Nuno insisted the makeup of these teams had changed in the five months since his side handed Liverpool their sole league defeat this season, the Portuguese at pains to say the parameters were totally different here, this an altogether new test. But from the moment Nuno arrived at the City Ground, wearing a backpack as if reporting for a 9-5 office job, this was the same old Forest: resolute, rigid in setup and simply devastating on the counterattack.
The bass of Born Slippy, a pre-match staple, reverberated around this bouncing ground and the evident feelgood factor was in overload. By then Evangelos Marinakis, the owner, had wandered around the pitch to survey the scene. Ryan Yates, the captain restored to the starting lineup who joined the club aged eight, got in the face of Virgil van Dijk, touch-tight on halfway. Yates was given a standing ovation when withdrawn with 20 minutes to play.
Liverpool finished the first half with nine shots, the majority from outside the Forest box, marshalled impeccably by Nikola Milenkovic and Murillo, a supreme defensive partnership. Cody Gakpo had Liverpool’s first effort, blasting over off-balance. Ryan Gravenberch twice managed a wild swing and a miss. Under Nuno, Forest get to work when presented with small windows of opportunity to punish lapses.
When Callum Hudson-Odoi, who scored the winner at Anfield in September, nicked the ball from Mohamed Salah, the visitors were in trouble. Hudson-Odoi punched a pass into Anthony Elanga, who released Chris Wood down the left channel. Forest cut Liverpool open with two incisive passes and Wood’s first-time finish, across goal, gave Alisson no chance. It was a fine Forest goal, Wood’s 13th of the season. Cue ecstasy in the stands, Forest fans of all ages in disbelief. Nuno, arms folded, was expressionless.
Little more than a minute later Murillo intercepted a loose Gravenberch pass and lashed a shot just over from 30 yards. Even Nuno allowed himself a wry smile. Forest were in the mood but Liverpool were not floored. At the same time, things were not clicking. Slot applauded overhead after Trent Alexander-Arnold overcooked a second diagonal pass meant for Gakpo. Luis Díaz wellied over from distance. Andy Robertson played a blind pass that bobbled out of play for a Matz Sels goal-kick. Dominik Szoboszlai slapped his hands in frustration.
Forest forced Liverpool errors, Ola Aina hounding Robertson to ruin a routine pass. Neco Williams prevented Salah from latching on to another clipped Alexander-Arnold pass. When Szoboszlai manhandled Morgan Gibbs-White on halfway, it was the latter who was penalised after he questioned the referee Chris Kavanagh’s decision not to caution the Liverpool midfielder.
The second half was shaping up to be a similar story for Liverpool until Slot made a double substitution that proved inspired, even if he was reluctant to take much credit for how it played out. Until then Forest had been enjoying themselves, so much so Murillo attempted an audacious lobbed shot after storming into the opposition half having beat Salah and then Gravenberch to the ball. There were olés after Forest played neat triangles around Alexander-Arnold before Alexis Mac Allister chopped down Gibbs-White. From the subsequent free-kick Elanga rattled a laced effort at Alisson on the hour. It was another effort on target, something that eluded Liverpool for 65 minutes.
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Robertson endured a difficult night and it was no surprise he was one of the two players withdrawn by Slot. Nobody could have hoped Robertson’s replacement would make such an immediate impact. The same went for Jota, who replaced the centre-back Ibrahima Konaté, a plain indication Slot was in no mood to succumb. Tsimikas’s left-footed corner arced into the box and Jota got between Wood and Murillo to glance a header past Sels, who had another magnificent game. Nuno, who coached Jota at Wolves, conceded the Portugal forward, not renowned for his aerial ability, is always a live threat in the box.
Liverpool pushed for a winner as Forest’s attack faded from view but Elanga did send an inviting low ball across the six-yard box that went unmet with five minutes of normal time to play. Moments later, Aina cleared a Salah shot off the line and Szoboszlai saw an effort deflect past a post, but Sels left the pitch as the Forest’s hero, making a superb trio of saves late on, thwarting Jota, Salah and then Gakpo, the latter during seven minutes of fraught stoppage time.
Source: theguardian.com
