Nottingham Forest 3 Southampton 2: Tricky Trees hold off furious Saints comeback to draw level on points with Arsenal
NOTTINGHAM FOREST edged out Saints in a five-goal thriller to go level on points with Arsenal in second place.
But boy, did they make hard work of it as they came within a fraction of blowing a three-goal lead.
Three-nil up at half-time, Nuno Espirito Santo‘s men were in cruise control and looked in the mood to run up a cricket score.
But the unpredictable nature of the Premier League was shown in all of its glory here as basement boys Southampton battled back from the dead.
They wounded Forest with second half goals from Jan Bednarek and Paul Onuachu to leave Forest hanging on grimly in a frantic finale.
And it took a last ditch goal line clearance from Ola Aina deep into 12 minutes of stoppage time to preserve three crucial points for Forest.
Nuno’s boys are still on course for European football next season, with the Champions League a real possibility after clocking up seven wins and a draw from their last eight games.
This was very much a case of going from the sublime to the ridiculous for Forest.
Hard on the heels of drawing with table-topping Liverpool, Nuno’s boys faced a Saints side struggling at the opposite end of the spectrum.
The visitors’ task wasn’t made any easier as an ankle injury deprived them of their star performer this season, Tyler Dibling.
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But the fact they couldn’t perform the most basic defensive duties is a problem which has plagued them all season – and there were no signs here that they are learning from previous mistakes.
It didn’t take long for Forest to cash in as they stormed into an early lead.
Saints had actually started the game well enough and were enjoying almost twice as much possession as their hosts.
But Nuno’s men are so solid at the back they are content to soak up pressure and then pounce on the break.
They almost lulled Saints into a false sense of security as the visitors made it to the 10 minute unscathed.
But within 60 seconds their world started to fall apart.
It all started with a simple throw-in just inside Saints half, which you would have expected a kids team to defend better.
Neco Williams tossed the ball to Morgan Gibbs-White who was totally unmarked and, with time to get his head up, he picked out Elliot Anderson.
The summer signing from Newcastle surged forward and unleashed a ferocious right footer which flew past Aaron Ramsdale to nestle in the bottom corner.
Forest fans threatened to lift the roof off as they roared their approval and Anderson went bonkers as he celebrated his first goal for Forest.
Incredibly it was the 18th time in 22 games that Forest have opened the scoring this season.
Right there and then you suspected the game was up for sorry Saints.
They were tidy enough in their build-up play but whenever they got near Forest’s goal they came up against a red brick wall.
Yukinari Sugawara whipped in a wicked low cross but Murillo did what Murillo does.
The Brazilian hurled himself at the ball and slid in to divert it for a corner.
Saints defenders should take note. Every time Forest were in danger a red shirt made first contact to repel the threat.
While Saints jogged, Forest sprinted. While Saints dithered, Forest leapt into action.
The second goal arrived before the half hour.
Chris Wood bullied Jan Bednarek into surrendering the ball cheaply and Callum Hudson-Odoi pounced on the loose ball.
The winger took a couple of strides forward and then thundered a shot which bends round Ramsdale and ends up in the far corner from 22 yards.
Saints retaliated, literally, when Flynn Downes was lucky to escape with just a booking for a cynical forearm smash on Gibbs-White.
And there was another blow for Forest when goal hero Hudson-Odoi limped off with a thigh injury and was replaced by Jota Silva.
But Forest were flying now and they added a third as Saints fell apart again, four minutes before the half-time break.
Once again the visitors failed to deal with a simple throw-in as Gibbs-White was again given the freedom of the park to collect in space.
The ball was effortlessly worked out to Ola Aina on the right and he whipped in a cross which Bednarek failed to get on the end of.
However Chris Wood gobbled up the opportunity and headed beyond Ramsdale for his 14th goal of an incredible season.
Muric looked absolutely distraught on the touchline as he cursed his side’s slackness.
But to be fair to Saints they always tried to go forward and they never stopped believing in themselves.
Kyle Walker-Peters clipped the side net with a shot just on half-time.
And they pulled one back on the hour when they launched a long free kick towards the Forest box.
Sub Paul Onuachu headed down to Lesley Ugochukwu whose shot flew off Bednarek and looped over Sels and in.
There was a nervous wait before VAR confirmed Bednarek had managed to stay onside and the goal stood.
Forest’s response was rapid and they had the ball in the Saints net four minutes later.
Anthony Elanga whipped in a free kick from the left and Nikola Milenkovic rose to head goalwards.
Ramsdale appeared to gather the ball on his chest but allowed the ball to squirm out and creep over his goal line.
However, to the fury of Forest fans VAR stepped in to save the Saints goalie’s blushes.
They urged ref Anthony Taylor to have another look at the pitchside monitor and he spotted that Chris Wood was offside when the ball was delivered.
Forest argued the striker never touched the ball but Taylor’s view was he impeded Saints defenders and stopped them from clearing the danger.
It was a hugely contentious decision and Saints took heart from it.
Amazingly they made it 3-2 one minute into TWELVE minutes of stoppage time when Mateus Fernandes sent in a corner which Paul Onuachu powered beyond Sels.
All of a sudden the Reds were on the ropes and hanging on grimly to their slender lead.
Incredibly Saints almost pulled off the impossible when Bednarek glanced another delivery from a corner beyond Sels.
But with the ball hurtling towards the net, Ola Aina stuck out his leg to clear off the line and guarantee Forest three hard-won points.