Nottingham Forest 1-1 Aston Villa (Dennis 15′ | Young 22′)
CITY GROUND — If both Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa came to West Bridgford to meet on the first truly cold night of the autumn in search of a little comfort in grim times, the post-match handshake and sheepish smile was between two men who might be grateful that it was not worse. They will take a point each, but less reason for great cheer.
This was a frenetic and spicy night between two teams who are, to be blunt, currently achieving less than their component parts. It was 93 minutes of hustling and bustling and occasionally shoving and kicking until, at various points, a football match briefly threatened to break out. For about 15 minutes in the second half, it resembled one of those Victorian matches in Derbyshire where one village takes on another en masse over fields and roads.
Perhaps that merely reflects the emergency of the situation. Even by Nottingham Forest’s typical standards over the last decade under two demanding owners, this has been an eventful week. Heavy defeat at Leicester City seemingly pushed Steve Cooper close to the edge, with reports suggesting that Forest’s hierarchy had sounded out at least one alternative. Then came two pieces of surprise news: a new sporting director and a new contract for Cooper. Never attempt to second guess this football club; they will make you look foolish.
For all the fretting and mithering over performance and team selection, most opponents you face in the Premier League are better than you; that’s the reality. Look at the Aston Villa team: Coutinho, Watkins, Cash, Buendia, Mings, McGinn, Douglas Luiz. How many of Cooper’s team would make Gerrard’s? One? None? You have to overperform just to cope.
One indirect result of Forest’s spending this summer, as well as potentially causing such upheaval that they are still struggling to put names to faces, is that it evaporated any chance Forest had of flying a little under the radar. Bournemouth might have benefitted from that theory. That and sacking the manager who said they had no chance of staying up.
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They did their best. When Emmanuel Dennis scored from a Morgan Gibbs-White free-kick, somehow finding space with the mind trick of not moving at all to guide a header past Emi Martinez, the City Ground roared as if cheering a new beginning.
HE DOES IT AGAIN!
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 10, 2022
Emmanuel Dennis loves scoring against Aston Villapic.twitter.com/iCv14rWKmm
Forest also have an unerring tendency to concede goals from outside the penalty area. On Monday evening they conceded at least one goal from outside the box for the seventh consecutive game, a Premier League record. They have conceded 10 in total all season. This time it was Ashley Young; if he’s ever hit a ball with more purpose and accuracy, it should be on display in a gallery.
That is 𝗢𝗨𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗢𝗨𝗦 from Ashley Young
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 10, 2022pic.twitter.com/S1pzGc0xiQ
The tendency is to put that down to rotten luck, but perhaps there’s a little more in it. Given the lack of pace in their central defenders, Forest tend to drop very deep when their opponents have possession. In the Championship that’s a perfectly reasonable strategy – “Go on, have a shot”. In the top-flight, when you face many of the world’s elite attacking midfielders, it can be disastrous.
The atmosphere, unsurprisingly, was thick with nervous energy for most of the following hour. They do not mean to groan in the Bridgford End or sigh in the Trent End; it is not intended to be hurtful. They just desperately want their team to click again as they believe it can. Otherwise last season will feel nothing more than a temporary relief of their long-term mediocrity.
But this time, Forest didn’t creak so much that they split apart and splintered. They pushed on for a winner just as Villa did. Gibbs-White came alive and knitted together moves that ultimately ended in nothing, but Forest have avoided a defeat and they will hope that this is the start of something rather than the beginning of another end.
The away end may feel differently. While Forest fans applauded and sang Cooper’s name, boos rang out from those who travelled from Birmingham. For Forest, the issue seems to be that they have a fine coach and a squad that will take some managing. For Villa, the opposite. Those supporters believe fully in the quality of the players; they would just like a manager capable of getting the best out of them.
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