An excellent second-half aim from substitute Callum Hudson-Odoi gave Nottingham Forest the most important shock win of the Premier League season as far as they beat Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield on Saturday.
The win was Forest’s first at Anfield since 1969, and the gamers and the away followers celebrated accordingly as the house crowd was left to rue a rudderless show from the Reds that lacked a leading edge.
Liverpool dominated the opening half, and Luis Díaz got here near breaking the impasse within the seventeenth minute, hustling to maintain the ball in play on the Forest aim line and slicing inside earlier than firing a rasping shot off the close to put up.
Two minutes later, Mohamed Salah crossed fantastically with the surface of his left boot for Dominik Szoboszlai, whose header went simply broad as Liverpool elevated the stress.
In fact, although, Salah was being well-contained by Forest fullback Álex Moreno, who was relentless in his pursuit of the Egypt worldwide earlier than being changed late on.
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Liverpool coach Arne Slot will need to have suspected that it was not going to be his day when Forest keeper Matz Sels impressed late within the first half, scrambling to maintain out a Trent Alexander-Arnold nook that nearly dipped underneath the bar, and saving well from a Carlos Mac Allister header a minute later.
Selz then virtually gifted Liverpool the lead earlier than the break as Díaz ballooned a header up within the air and the goalkeeper virtually clawed it into his personal internet as he tried to gather it, however he was capable of get well and avert the hazard.
For all the possibilities they created within the first half, the Liverpool attackers discovered themselves on totally different wavelengths all too typically, and far of their play lacked their regular fluidity as probabilities went begging.
Their wastefulness was punished within the 72nd minute as Anthony Elanga discovered his fellow substitute Hudson-Odoi with a superb crossfield ball, and the 23-year-old winger reduce inside earlier than curling an incredible effort previous goalkeeper Alisson.
Having convincingly gained all of their opening three league video games underneath Arne Slot with out conceding a aim, Liverpool seemed in need of concepts as they sought to come back again. A Virgil van Dijk header from a nook that flew over was the closest they got here to an equaliser.
Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo received his techniques spot on, nevertheless it was his impressed substitutions that gained the day for his facet.
“Me and Callum [Hudson-Odoi] spoke about it on the bench, after we come on we might make a distinction,” Swedish winger Elanga stated.
“We come right here to Liverpool and never many groups can beat them and play the way in which we did — we received rewarded with it on the finish.”
Liverpool keeper Alisson was not impressed by Forest’s defensive recreation plan, however acknowledged that it turned out to be very efficient.
“It was poor defensively from us. We could not create a lot, we had a scarcity of high quality at this time, we would have liked extra power. It’s three factors we’ve got misplaced at this time unnecessarily,” he stated.