Nottingham Forest survived a late scare to move level with Arsenal in second place with a 3-2 win at the City Ground over strugglers Southampton in the Premier League.
Only goal difference separates the two teams after another decisive victory for Forest, which held on after conceding a second goal in stoppage time, unlike Arsenal, which wasted a two-goal lead against Aston Villa on Saturday.
Two stunning first-half goals from Elliot Anderson and Callum Hudson-Odoi, before Chris Wood helped himself to his 14th goal of the season, looked to have put Forest in the driving seat until a frenetic final 30 minutes.
Jan Bednarek headed Leslie Ugochukwu’s shot over Matz Sels’ head in the 60th minute and then reduced the deficit to just one goal after Paul Onuachu came off the bench to score the second goal in stoppage time.
After a long delay from VAR to confirm Bednarek’s goal and disallow Nikola Milinkovic’s fourth goal for Forest, 12 minutes-720 seconds were added that were the equivalent of a lifetime for the home fans.
However, aided by resilient defending and goal-line clearance from Ola Aina, Forest’s lead remained intact.
Their Champions League dreams have now been boosted by victory, while Southampton’s chances of survival have diminished as they remain 10 points from safety.
Nuno: Southampton was a warning
Nottingham Forest president Nuno Espirito Santo:
“We were talking about how competitive this league is. You can never think the game is over. Credit to Southampton, the way they created a lot of problems.”
“We started really well and everything got easier. The start of the second half was good but it was really strange. There were a lot of stops and VAR decisions. It wasn’t really smooth.
“We didn’t handle the situation well. I’m happy to win the game. It was a warning. There are a lot of things we have to improve. We know our weaknesses and strengths.”
Juric: When we’re like this, we’re competitive
Southampton president Ivan Jurek:
“We didn’t play with strength or energy. The first goal was really bad. We were really disappointed after the big game against us [Manchester] United that we played the first half at this level.
“In the second half we had more energy and scored two goals. This was the team I wanted to watch.
“For the first time against United, I thought this was my team. In the last 40 minutes today, I saw what I wanted to see. When we were like that we were competitive.”
The forest shows both sides against the Saints
Patrick Rowe from Sky Sports:
How quickly soccer games can change.
To score three goals from an expected goal value of just 0.28 xG, holding on to the narrowest of margins in extra time.
Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson celebrates scoring the first goal
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side showed both sides of their game today – which is exactly why they are now level on points with Arsenal in second place.
Their attacking style speaks for itself, as demonstrated by their impressive finish to the first half, but they took all three points thanks to their impressive defensive performance in the closing stages of the game.
With the pressure mounting and Southampton looking dangerous with every attack, the team pulled themselves together and pulled themselves over the goal line.
Forest are the real deal and they owe a lot of that to their commitment on the defensive end.
Southampton need to play for 90 minutes
Patrick Rowe from Sky Sports:
As they did against United, Southampton showed enough promise and threat in stoppage time to get away with the day’s result.
Southampton player Paul Onuachu celebrates scoring his team’s second goal in the match
If they play with the same intent throughout the entire 90 minutes, they won’t come away empty-handed – as Juric correctly pointed out.
However, like relegation rivals Leicester City, the Saints fail to produce a positive performance throughout the entire match, and could ultimately end up being their downfall.
Juric will learn more about his team as time goes on but one thing is clear – they looked more dangerous with striker Paul Onuachu, who scored his first Premier League goal today, leading the line.
“He has that quality,” Jurek said. “He is a fighter and very good with the head. He will be very good for us and will be very happy with him.”
The story of the match in statistics…
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