N Forest 0 – 1 Liverpool

Liverpool grabbed victory at Nottingham Forest as Alexis Mac Allister scored a 97th-minute winner amid late drama at the City Ground.

Mac Allister looked to have given his side an undeserved 1-0 win in the 89th minute only for his goal to be ruled out for handball, but there was no reprieve for Forest on the stroke of half-time as the Argentina international slotted home from close range.

Jamie Carragher called the victory “one of the biggest heists” of the Premier League season after what he called a “horror performance” in the first half in which Liverpool were completely outplayed and struggled to adjust to the loss of Florian Wirtz to injury before kick-off.

Vitor Pereira, who took charge of Forest for the first time in the Premier League, saw his side have 12 of 14 shots in the first half and should have scored from the first of them when Callum Hudson-Odoi was clean through but Alisson saved.

The game ran out after the break until it ignited late. Hugo Ekitike should have beaten Stefan Ortega but Mac Allister looked to have finished anyway, Ola Aina’s clearance firing away from him. Replays seemed to come off his elbow.

But Liverpool were not to be denied, Mac Allister grabbing another loose ball – with VAR not coming to Forest’s rescue this time. Pereira’s side remain two points clear of the drop zone. Liverpool move level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United.

How the drama unfolded

Pereira was aiming to become the first Nottingham Forest manager not to lose their first Premier League game in charge since Dave Bassett in 1997, and he went with the same line-up that won well against Fenerbahce on Thursday. There was no lack of sharpness.

It was indeed Slot’s side that struggled to cope with the pace of the game. “Liverpool were physically sampled,” Carragher said. “This team cannot cope when it is end-to-end in the Premier League.” Ibrahim Sangare dominated the game in midfield.

Slot can point to the upheaval that forced Curtis Jones to come in as a No 10 until the experiment was curtailed after just half an hour when he switched positions with Dominik Szoboszlai. But it was still a worryingly sluggish performance by Liverpool.

An important three points though and a weekend in which they gain ground on all their rivals. Liverpool are now six points behind Aston Villa in third place. For Forest, they remain dangerously close to the drop. But hoping that if they play like this, they will be safe.

Conclusion: Forest earned a draw

Liverpool head coach Arne Lock talk to Sky Sports:

“When you score in the last minute there’s always an element of luck. But so many times this season we’ve experienced the opposite. I don’t mean conceding in the last minute – that’s happened too – but it’s about us deserving more than we got.

“A draw would have been a fairer result for us than a win.

“In the first half we lost every ball. We couldn’t hold the ball for one second. If we went long we lost the duel. We lost a lot of second balls. The only part of the game that went well was defending inside the box. I saw players throw themselves for long balls, had to defend set-pieces. That’s what we did well and stayed in the game.

“The second half I saw something slightly different. We took over the game, maybe because they played on Thursday? For the first time this season it was an advantage for us – that the team we faced played and we were off this week.

“With the way things are going this season, I wouldn’t have been at all surprised if both goals were disallowed. But maybe fortunes have changed – finally.”

Mac Allister: Mixed feelings after winning

Liverpool match winner Alexis McAllister talk to Sky Sports:

“Mixed feelings, to be honest. Love to score, love to win. In that sense, it’s a very good day. But I don’t think we played very well. There are things we need to improve, but it’s always more fun when we win.”

On if the intended target hits his elbow: “It did, but it’s hard. Because it also hit my back. I understand the rules, but it’s football, it’s very hard.”

Pereira: One point was not enough but zero?!

Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira talk to Sky Sports:

“This is football. We played the first half in a fantastic way and created problems. And we deserved two or three goals, we had two or three great chances to score.

“But obviously three days ago we played a team without a game in the middle of the week. Our ability to press them wasn’t the same.

“And in the end we give in. This is football. We have to accept it, difficult to accept the frustration. But the fans were fantastic. The next day and game we will be stronger.

“One point wasn’t enough. Zero? We don’t deserve it. If they play like they did in the first half, we can get a lot of points until the end.”

Story of the match in statistics…

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