Nottingham Forest’s frustrating start to the season continued on Saturday as they crashed to a disappointing 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Sunderland. It ends a five-game winless streak as the manager Ange Postecoglou is still looking for his first win since becoming head coach of the team. Omar Alderete from Sunderland scored the home team’s first and only goal of the match. He hit an absolute thunderbolt after meeting a cross from Granit Xhaka.
His side’s defeat was marred by controversy over the free-kick which allowed Sunderland to score. Nottingham Forest’s Nicolas Dominguez was given a yellow card for diving after playing a ball into touch. There followed the instruction to award the free-kick in spite of the foul on Trai Hume. Nottingham Forest supporters were understandably aggrieved by this call. At the same time, Postecoglou is under intense pressure after his side started poorly with two draws and three losses from their opening five fixtures.
A Bitter Pill to Swallow
Nottingham Forest controlled the ball and looked threatening every time they came forward in the match. Yet, they found it difficult to find the back of the net. The team’s starting XI included Sels, Williams, Morato, Milenkovic, Zinchenko, Anderson, Dominguez, McAtee, Bakwa, Ndoye, and Wood. On the bench, too, stood impressive replacements in Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi.
Postecoglou acknowledged the disappointment expressed by fans, stating, “I understand their disappointment and it is shared by us in the dressing room and me. My job is to rectify that.” The pressure on him only stands to increase as he tries to spin the franchise’s luck the other way.
In a post-match interview, he added, “Tough, it’s another game that got away from us. It has been the story of the five games. We control games really well and don’t take our chances.” As his comments suggest, these have been emblematic of a broader fight for consistency and assuredness that Nottingham Forest have battled with all season.
Controversial Free-Kick Decision
The defining moment of the game was when Sunderland were awarded a dubious free-kick. From behind, the referee called a foul on Dominguez because of what he did. This tactical shift resulted in a defensive lapse that Nottingham Forest would pay dearly for.
Omar Alderete took full advantage, thrashing home a header from Xhaka’s delivery. This goal secured Sunderland’s first away victory of the season and highlighted Nottingham Forest’s inability to cope with crucial moments in matches.
Postecoglou commented on the situation, saying, “It’s not a project; we should be winning these games. It is giving us the right kind of advantages but we still have to win the game.” Yet his frustration over missed opportunities really speaks to the diehard fan who hopes for much better production from this talent-laden team.
Looking Ahead
Meanwhile, pressure is building on Postecoglou. Nottingham Forest need to pick themselves up quickly and prepare to welcome Midtjylland on Thursday. After that game, they’ll head away to Newcastle for another EFL Cup clash, this one to be aired live on Sky Sports.
The players and those just-down-the-road ones are surely desperate for their first victory under Postecoglou. They can see a turnaround is coming, but it’s just out of reach. The manager should not lose sight of the pressing problems that are killing his team.
Fans have every right to be disappointed. But they want to see their team win!” the fired up coach said in response to the criticism targeted at him and his team.
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