Football Scores: Leeds 2-1 Nottingham Forest

Posted at: April 05, 2023

Luis Sinisterra scored a screamer to help Leeds produce one of the narrow football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Forest suffered their fourth straight league defeat on the road and now remain above the bottom three solely on goal difference after allowing their relegation rivals to take the lead at Elland Road. Forest took an early lead thanks to Orel Mangala’s goal, but Leeds responded with first-half goals from Jack Harrison and Luis Sinisterra to record an important win that pushed them up to 13th in the standings, four places and two points clear of Forest.

Leeds got off to a fast start in front of a raucous Elland Road crowd, but they were quiet after 12 minutes. Emmanuel Dennis, who had earlier hit the post with a close-range attempt, turned provider on the counter, finding Mangala on the edge of the area, who clinically placed Forest’s opener beyond Illan Meslier. Forest’s lead lasted only eight minutes. Marc Roca’s long-range shot was too hot for Navas to handle, and Harrison was quickest to react, ramming home his fourth Premier League goal of the season on the rebound.

Forest remained a threat on the counter-attack, but Leeds’ hold on the game only grew stronger after parity was restored, and there was a growing sensation inside Elland Road that another goal was on the way. Although Patrick Bamford and Sinisterra both missed good chances, Leeds finally asserted their dominance on the stroke of halftime when the Colombia international cut inside off the left wing and rifled an unstoppable effort into the far corner. Moussa Niakhate’s last-ditch tackle prevented Bamford from extending Leeds’ lead early in the second half, as the hosts resumed their play from before the interval.

Sinisterra nearly brought the home crowd to their feet for the second time with another curled effort, and Bamford squandered a great chance as Leeds looked for a game-winning third. Despite having shots stopped late on by Neco Williams and substitutes Jonjo Shelvey, Gustavo Scarpa, and Andre Ayew, Leeds held off Forest to record their eighth league win of the season.

Leeds have won three of their six Premier League games under Javi Gracia (D1 L2), matching their total from the first 22 games of the season (D7 L12). Nottingham Forest extended their winless run to eight Premier League games (D3 L5), the longest current streak in the division. Leeds had 21 shots on goal against Nottingham Forest, the most in a single Premier League game since January 2022. (22 vs Burnley). Nottingham Forest has lost more games this season despite scoring first than any other Premier League team (8 – D4 L4), and only Leicester (22) has surrendered more points from winning positions than Forest (20).

“I’m thrilled because it was an excellent performance. As a result, we obtained a solid outcome and took an essential step. It’s huge to get this win with our supporters right now,” Leeds boss Javi Gracia said. “The most essential thing for us is to play with our fans, whose support is priceless. The quality exists [to continue the survival bid]. I have really good players of great quality on my team, and their devotion and desire are extremely high. Points are always essential, but they are much more so with 10 games remaining. It’s always crucial to get strong outcomes and keep things rolling for the team’s confidence and enthusiasm.”

“We made a good enough start in achieving the goal, but our failure to expand on that has really cost us,” Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper said. “With that performance, we fell short from the goal to halftime. We lacked bravery with the ball, as well as technique and courage, and as a result, we were unable to establish any momentum. At the same time, we were too passive without the ball, there was too much space between lines, and we were too easy to beat. Leeds took advantage of the energy and rhythm we provided.”