Leicester City 1-3 Nottingham Forest (Premier League) 25.10.24

Nottingham Forest took three points from Premier League opponents, Leicester, in a game that saw Forest jump the gears incredibly!

The first half

Forest started on the back foot; immediately Leicester utilised their Argentinian wonderkid loanee, Buonanotte, to irk the Forest defence and start attacks.

Leicester seemed to start convincingly, and Forest gave away the ball on a couple of occasions, especially in midfield where the inverting Ricardo Pereira paired with Winks, but it wouldn’t be the Foxes who’d open the scoring…

Ryan Yates, he finds the ball on the edge of the box and strikes it well, in front of the home fans. Into the bottom corner it rolled, Hermansen couldn’t grasp it, but Leicester fans rightfully frustrated. While a good shot, Leicester didn’t clear their lines – unforgivable defending.

Forest had the confidence, and that showed – long balls to Hudson-Odoi who played with a renewed energy, and Aina’s link up with Elanga causing some issues, Forest wanted another.

However, Leicester would be the ones to get one back, as Jamie Vardy is given space to put one past Sels, and get one back for the hosts. Forest frustrated, surely not another poor night at the King Power….

Leicester, I felt, had a better start to the half than Forest, but suggestions from Cooper that they were the better side, far from it.

A good first half, the game very much open – a *huge* 45 minutes to go.

The second half

I initially thought Forest’s midfield struggled with the Leicester midfield, and more specifically Buononotte, but they grew into this second half, and started well immediately.

Just two minutes into the half, that man again, Chris Wood, the ‘fox’ in the box, scores against Leicester – his former club. He takes a ball from Anderson, turns round Okoli, and slots it into the bottom corner. A wonderful finish, but again, poor defending from Leicester.

While the tale of the first half, and perhaps last season, would probably suggest the Reds would succumb to pressure and let Leicester equalise, it was quite the opposite. Resilience wasn’t all Forest had, they had quality. Real quality.

Had it been last season, I feel that Forest would’ve seeked to keep the score level, but not this Forest side, they wanted more. Two wasn’t enough.

Forest slowly tore Leicester apart, excruciating watching for the home fans, as Leicester seemed to aid that; a constant failing of the basics, losing the ball in crucial areas, and overall being wasteful – Forest sought to expose that, and did.

Chris Wood, to equalise Stan Collymore’s record, scores past Hermansen, and makes it 22 goals for him in the Premier League with Forest. Officially a legend of the club. Sels’ superb long ball, criminally ignored by Leicester’s centre-backs, and – with his head – dinked over the Leicester Keeper by New Zealand’s finest.

Forest entered Sosa & Silva late on, and their impact was immediate. Sosa ran on, and made Faes look amateur. Silva came on, won many free-kicks, and put in that hard work needed late into a game.

Seven minutes added on, Forest un phased. Forest have evolved. No time for external noise; actions are the loudest, and Forest are proving that. Nuno is creating a revolution in the East Midlands.

Forest are on the up.

Leicester 1, Nottingham Forest 3.

*Article provided by Jamie Martin (Head Nottingham Forest Correspondent).

*Main image @NFFC the Forest players celebrate during a good night in Leicester.