The Premier league’s biggest dreamers started their campaign with a tight 1-0 away win at Nottingham Forest. An Anton Stach 88th minute free-kick was enough to separate the sides although Nottingham Forest fans will be incredibly frustrated at their profligacy in front of goal.
Going into the opening weekend of the premier league season, the Athletic dropped the latest rendition of their hope-o-meter in which they ask their subscribers how optimistic they are in regards to how they think their team will perform over the course of the upcoming premier league season and in this hope-o-meter, Leeds fans were seen as the most optimistic and Nottingham Forest fans were third in the list (tied with Aston Villa percentage wise)
The atmosphere around the ground in the lead up to the game from both sides was definitely reflective of the registered optimism with both sets of fans in good spirits, getting into the stadium early and starting the chants nearly an hour before kick off inside and outside the ground.
Forest lined up in a shape insanely recognisable of Oliver Glasner, with the big surprise being James McAtee dropping to play in the pivot next to Ibrahim Sangare, seemingly a solution for Xavier Schlager not being ready to start, in fact none of the two high profile signings started the game with Ousmane Diomande not featuring at all in the fixture.
Leeds on the other hand played a more familiar set up, continuing after last season’s successful campaign with the notable inclusions being Harry Wilson and Tarik Muharemovic, both very highly anticipated signings that fans were excited to see get started for Leeds in the premier league.
Aina and McAtee felt the energy of the fans
From the off, Ola Aina was absolutely electric, seemingly given freedom of the whole right hand side, the wingback certainly wasn’t afraid to get stuck in, almost leading to him getting sent off for a seemingly wild challenge on James Justin although ultimately his feet weren’t off the ground when he made contact with the Leeds defender. Despite that he was a very prominent figure all over the right half of the pitch and was very visible in all areas of Forest’s game being important to build up and also breaking into the final third which seemed to be a symptom of Oliver Glasner’s tactics, there were a couple of opportunities in which he could’ve done better with his final action, or control in the box, but overall there were very positive signs and he was a source of energy for the crowd who needed somebody to reciprocate the positive energy they were providing in the buildup to the game – it was clear that Ola Aina shared the sentiment of the fans in a slightly different role under new manager Oliver Glasner.
James McAtee also had a very solid game from which he could build on, also playing in a new role deeper in the pitch in a midfield pivot with Sangare, the midfielder had a slow start to the game but started to grow into it halfway through the first half showing some nice intricate passes and flicks to connect play in the more advanced attacking areas, he was a bit too eager to play risky and on the front foot straight away leading to forest struggling for control early on but he started to improve on his decision making as the game went on, Glasner when describing his performance recognised that it wasn’t brilliant but it was also far from bad and there were definitely encouraging signs for him to work with.
Ultimately, the issue with the forest performance was their lack of cutting edge in front of goal and their sloppiness in their final actions, this will consolidate the fears of Forest Fans as many online and in the ground were keen to point out their need for a striker and a wingback, two positions that seem to be likely to come in as Glasner keeps repeating the fact that Forest will be making two more signings before the closure of the window.
Leeds proved the power of a dream
As for the Leeds fans, the 99% were proved right for feeling how they did, they got off to a strong start with Harry Wilson occupying what seemed to be a free role and they thought they’d gone in the lead with a well worked goal after they breezed through the Forest midfield in the 26th minute, but Wilson had strayed just offside leading to the goal ultimately being disallowed. As the game went on Leeds started to see less and less of the ball and they became very vulnerable in the wide areas with an array of dangerous crosses coming in which led to an Igor Jesus header forcing a good save from James Trafford, a Milenkovic header hitting the post, and another Igor Jesus header going just wide which he in all honesty probably should have scored. However, they kept on battling and managed to hold on putting in a very dedicated defensive display from the 40th minute onwards and relying on breakaway opportunities to attempt to provide threat to the Forest goal. From the 80th minute it seemed as though the Leeds team and players alike were satisfied to leave with a point away from home.
In the 87th minute, they managed to win the ball and set up for an attacking opportunity with them now attempting to play quite direct in behind, a ball was played and ultimately it should’ve been comfortably cleared by Milenkovic but he misjudged the flight of the ball, leading to him clattering into Anton Stach around the edge of the box. The German placed the ball down in front of the Leeds away end and took some time to allow the wall to set up, the Leeds fans dared to dream once more as they saw their free-kick specialist measuring up the opportunity. Measuredly, Stach took a deep breath and waited for a second after the referee blew his whistle, finally he ran up to the ball and struck it just over the wall unleashing a powerful whipped drive to Sels’ bottom right hand corner, there was a bit of confusion as it seemed the the Belgian had managed to keep it out of the net but then a large roar erupted in the away end as all Sels ended up doing was helping the ball into the net. Stach ran over to the away fans and let out a big roar as the Leeds fans were proved right to dream once more, a brilliant end to the game for the premier league’s biggest optimists. For the last 5 minutes of the game the Leeds team sat back and allowed Forest to keep trying solutions with the Reds getting a chance to score a free kick of their own with 2 minutes left of added time, bizarrely, the Englishman took the full remaining 2 minutes to set up and take his free kick, only to lift it over the bar, and by the time the goal kick was taken, the game was done. The ones who believed the most, went home the happiest at the end of the ninety.
Hope is free
Ultimately the game ended up being a lesson in the art of believing, Forest were arguably better on the day but a lack of conviction in their final actions ended up being the architect of their downfall, in comparison, the Leeds game was won by an act of magic but one that was wholly believed in by the players and the fans, they also ended up putting the ball in the net twice which was reflective of their killer instinct in the final third when they managed to create chances for themselves.
Regardless it was a positive performance for both teams, one that both sets of teams could take positives from with Glasner recognising that although it was a disappointing result, it bodes well for the future as they still aren’t at 100% yet as a team.
This game showed that there is early signs of a good season coming up for both teams in the premier league this season.
Yankuba Samateh
