Nottingham Forest snatched all three points late on against Sheffield United, thanks to a 89th minute Chris Wood header, which was incredibly cruel on the Blades having looked the better team for most of the game.
Player grades
Wes Foderingham: 6
Commanded his box well enough, but other than that, he had little else to do other than to pick the ball out of his net, twice. He should be livid with the marking for the goals.
Anel Ahmedhodzic: 5
A number of vital interceptions and clearances as Forest posed a threat. Didn’t look great in possession in the first half, but he displayed an improved performance post-break, nearly scoring shortly after the restart. His attacking intent helped pin back Forest down their left.
John Egan: 3
Man marking Awoniyi for the first goal, and it was the forward who opened the scoring. Egan continued to get bullied by Awoniyi as he used his pace and power in one-on-one battles.
I only watched the second goal live but it looked like Egan lost Wood for the goal and therefore he was stretching for it. Body positioning and marking should be much better.
Jack Robinson: 7
To say he was in a complete mismatch for speed up against Brennan Johnson, Robinson marshalled him really well, especially in the second half. Robinson got touch tight to him and restricted his chances to advance with the ball.
Ben Osborn: 6
Did really well to fill in for the injured George Baldock. Never in any danger when the ball was down his flank.
One thing that I would say is, he got into some great positions in behind the Forest back line but he showed some hesitancy in crossing the ball first-time with his weak foot. I think if it was Baldock in that position, we’d have got a goal from those moments.
Max Lowe: 3
Shocking for the first goal, a complete miskick. It looked like he was scared to contest every ball. And after the game, Heckingbottom did admit that he was carrying an injury.
Oli Norwood: 6
Helped control the tempo of the game with Vinícius Souza. Found Nottingham Forest’s weakness – long ball – and kept feeding it towards Traore and Osula to cause havoc.
Vinícius Souza: 7
It was evident that he is nowhere near match fit. However, that did not stop him having a huge impact on the game. Helped the Blades win/keep possession often. Kept passes short and simple to control the momentum. Once he went off, United weren’t the same.
Gustavo Hamer: 7
Showed what he was about. Tireless worker, always tracking back. Everytime he gets on the ball he only has attacking thoughts – looked to feed forward players. A world class strike on his debut, no keeper in the world gets to that.
Bénie Traoré: 7
Energetic and dynamic in the pocket and channels. Demonstrated skillful touches and contributed to driving United forward. Put on a solid performance and should be pleased with his efforts. Nearly sealed it with a potential winning goal, seizing on a defensive error to break through, but Turner managed to deflect his shot with a crucial hand.
Lots of people judging Traoré’s chance a little too harshly in my opinion. Although it was a one-vs-one, Worrall is pressuring him behind his left shoulder. He only has two places to go: low-driven into the bottom left corner or a chip into the far side. His chance registered at 0.27 xG.
Will Osula: 6
Ran and jostled for every ball. Engaged McKenna several times in the right channel. Laid the ball off the onrushing midfielders, and helped tee up Souza for a long distance curling effort.
Subs
Larouci 6 (Lowe, HT)
Basham 6 (Souza, 56)
Brooks 5 (Osula, 73)
Hackford 5 (Traoré, 82)
