Reds Draw Blanks In Graz

Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest (Europa League) 06.11.25

Football Park’s Louis Wheeldon writes…

Nottingham Forest’s injury-hit squad were unable to breakdown a rigid and defensively sound Sturm Graz side in MW4 of the 25/26 Europa League, being held to a 0-0 draw in Austria.

A missed penalty for Morgan Gibbs-White was the biggest kicker of the result, as well as a Ryan Yates header being clawed off the line and a late clip of the post by Nico Dominguez, but Sturm Graz held strong and anchored a valuable and impressive point to the Merkur Arena.

Toothless Forest Frustrated In Austria

As was expected heading into the game, it was Sean Dyche’s side who held the vast majority of the possession through the first half and held a firm grip on just that through the ripping noise of the crowd in Austria.

Such containment of the ball led to chances sooner rather than later as Forest started to jab, with James McAtee sweeping a big chance barely wide of the mark from a Morgan Gibbs-White set-piece a quarter of an hour or so in, before captain Ryan Yates saw a goal-bound header cleared off the line well by Arjan Malic – the Nottingham Forest skipper tonight became only the third player to play in all 5 of England’s top 5 domestic leagues and the Europa League.

Sturm Graz shook off the slight scares laid on them by The Reds, and managed to get a bit tighter in their own grip on possession. They very nearly came close to breaking the deadlock themselves through Maurice Malone, who tapped home a loose ball dealt with unconvincingly by John in the Forest net, but the flag went up to deny his early celebrations.

Forest were handed a gilt-edged chance to take the lead in the fixture moments later, as a cross from Neco Williams was blocked by a flailing arm from Emanuel Aiwu to give The Reds a chance to convert a penalty, but Gibbs-White couldn’t convert – Oliver Christensen got down in time to his left to beat the low-power effort away, with Yates blocked from following it in.

Half-Time: Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest

The second half rang much to the same tune as the first, with Forest continuing their dominance of possession and with Sturm Graz continuing to remain compact, tight and hard to breakdown.

The best chance of the second half at the stage it arrived in fell for Arnaud Kalimuendo. The Frenchman, on his first start for his new club since signing from Stade Rennais in the summer, hadn’t been on the receiving end of much quality service for the most part of the game, but one opportunity for him to strike at goal was blocked fantastically by Niklas Geyrhofer.

Further chances would fall for Forest, with an impressive-on-the-night Ibrahim Sangare bending a header proceeding a Williams set-piece wide of the post, but the Austrian hosts remained steadfast in their bid to keep their visitors at an arms length.

Several players in the white of the Forest away strip fell victim to bouts of cramp, and with Igor Jesus and Chris Wood unavailable for this fixture, Kalimuendo’s first Forest start ended in a withdrawal alongside Gibbs-White, with defenders Murillo and academy prospect Zach Abbott heading on as Sean Dyche looked to shore Forest up to claim at least a point, whilst aiming to protect a squad damaged with injuries.

Forest came breathlessly close to nicking a win in the games final clutches, as Argentine Nicolas Dominguez sent a deflected half-volley clattering off of the crossbar, but it led to nothing in the end as the honours were left even in Graz.

Full-Time: Sturm Graz 0-0 Nottingham Forest

Sturm Graz vs Nottingham Forest Player Ratings

Sturm Graz Starting XI: – Christensen (6), Malic (7), Aiwu (5), Geyrhofer (7), Karic (7), (C) Stankovic (6), Horvat (6), Hodl (6), Kiteishvili (5), Malone (6), Rozga (5)

Subs: Lavalee (6), Jatta (5), Kayombo (5), Hierlander (6), Mitchell (N/A)

Unused Subs: Bignetti, Khudyakov, Oermann, Beck, Grgic

Nottingham Forest Starting XI: John (5), Savona (6), Milenkovic (6), Morato (7), Williams (7), Dominguez (6), (C) Yates (6), Sangare (7), McAtee (6), Gibbs-White (4), Kalimuendo (5)

Subs: Ndoye (6), Murillo (6), Abbott (6)

Unused Subs: Sels, Willows, Boly, Hammond, Sinclair, Thompson, Whitehall

Man Of The Match – Ibrahim Sangare

It wasn’t to be for Nottingham Forest on their second European away of the season, with Sturm Graz holding rigid and keeping the travelling Reds at arms length throughout, even with a bit of luck by way of the missed penalty. There were a few shouts for hosting players for Man Of The Match, in particular Arjan Maric, but you’ll forgive me for a bit of bias, right?

Sangare was an important figure for Forest in this one. Sturm Graz had the intention of soaking up all the pressure brought against them and breaking with pace (sounds familiar), but the Ivorian midfielder was equal to everything the hosts scarcely brought forward with several key recoveries and tackles, as well as supplying some steady bits of play when on the ball himself.