Our game at Nottingham Forest saw three of our summer signings making their competitive debuts, and all were impressive. But right at the end it was one of last season’s key players who scored to secure all three points.
After the game Daniel Farke told BBC Match of the Day “I expected a difficult game away at Forest. I’m very happy to come away with a clean sheet and compliments to the players. “Sometimes the second year is more difficult. Last season, we picked up many points with draws. On the road, we want to be competitive and be more effective.”
And he was full of praise for the three debutants, who haven’t taken long to find an understanding with their new team-mates. “I am very happy because they have big boots to fill. Trafford is a good player but he hasn’t played that many Premier League games, Tarik too. Wilson too was excellent. The vibe and mood is good around the place,”
And captain Ethan Ampadu was also impressed with the newcomers. “From the very first minute they walked into the building, they have shown their quality. They have shown why they have been brought in to try and help us get to the next level. They’ve shown that hunger and drive to take Leeds to a better place so that has been very good.”
Trafford looked unruffled throughout the game and made the one save he really needed to make about halfway through the first half. Aina’s long throw into the area was met by Igor Jesus’ powerful header, but our new keeper did very well to reach right into the corner to palm the ball away. We then broke upfield, only for the move to be ended by an horrendous tackle on Justin by Aina, which could well have led to a red card.
Then Wilson nearly had his moment, when he met Bogle’s cross to steer the ball into the far corner of the net, only to be denied by the offside flag. Perhaps if he’d left it the distinctly onside Calvert-Lewin might have been able to score instead, though DCL would have had to stretch for it, after arriving a little bit later into the box.
Forest were enjoying slightly more of the possession, but Muharemovic was always a commanding presence at the back, looking comfortable on the ball as well as making some useful challenges.
Shortly before half time another ball into the area caused us problems, this time a corner which Milenkovic directed onto the post, though Trafford might have had it covered anyway. Jesus was first to the rebound, but Muharemovic was on hand to make a very timely block.
And this pattern continued into the second period, when yet again a cross caused problems in our area and Jesus headed wide from a good position. Then our old boy Chris Wood came off the bench, but could only drag a shot well wide after Murillo had threaded an excellent ball through the heart of our defence.
Then at the other end a cross from substitute Okafor led to a powerful Muharemovic header that Sels had to stretch to palm away, a save not dissimilar to Trafford’s in the first half. The game seemed to be drifting towards the draw which would probably have been a fair result, but the decisive moment of the game was to arrive in the 88th minute.
It came from a very clumsy foul by Milenkovic, who missed the ball completely and then clattered into Stach just outside the area. The German got up to take the free kick himself, and I was left wondering if anyone at Forest had seen the video of the goal he scored at Villa Park in February. They only put two men in the wall, and Sels was caught out at his near post, having positioned himself to deal with a cross.
We still had three minutes injury time to survive, and despite Forest throwing Kalimuendo on as an extra striker, we managed to hold out for all three points. All in all a very pleasing start, with the early signs that the new signings are taking Leeds up another level, so maybe it’s time to start dreaming about the top half of the table.
