Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United: Late Winner Decides Premier League Opener

Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest tenure began with a sting at the death, as Leeds United snatched a late winner at the City Ground in the Premier League opener.

The Austrian, Forest’s fifth manager in under a year after the sacking of Vitor Pereira last month, watched his new side hold their own for 88 minutes. Then Anton Stach stepped up.

The German midfielder, deadly from distance since arriving in England, bent a free-kick over the Forest wall and inside Matz Sels’ near post with two minutes of normal time remaining. One swing of his right boot turned a hard-fought draw into a 1-0 away win and silenced a home crowd that had sensed at least a point.

Tight, tense, and decided by dead balls

The game never really opened up. It was bitty, physical, and dominated by set-pieces rather than flowing attacking moves.

As the half-hour mark neared, Leeds thought they had struck first. Harry Wilson, one of the club’s big summer signings, darted into the box to meet Jayden Bogle’s low cross and side-footed into the net. His celebration was cut short by the offside flag.

That scare seemed to jolt Forest. They finished the half stronger, pinning Leeds back and finally working some space in the box. After a scramble from a corner, centre-back Jair Cunha rose highest and crashed a header against the post, with Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford beaten.

The pattern barely changed after the break. Forest looked the more assertive in open play, but their threat kept coming from crosses and corners. Ten minutes into the second half, Igor Jesus met an Ola Aina delivery but could only steer his header wide.

Leeds, for long spells, were content to absorb and counter. When they did test Sels, it was again from a dead ball. With 20 minutes left, Tarik Muharemovic powered a header on target, forcing the Forest keeper into his first serious save of the night.

The pressure finally told in the closing stages. Stach drew a foul from Nikola Milenkovic on the edge of the area, placed the ball down, and did what he has done better than anyone in the league over the last year. His curling effort cleared the wall and dropped just out of Sels’ reach, nestling inside the near post and sending the away end into chaos.

New Leeds signings justify the spend

Leeds arrived with momentum off the pitch. Daniel Farke had demanded stronger backing after his side finished eight points clear of the relegation zone last season, and the board responded with around £80m spent on Trafford, Wilson and Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Muharemovic.

All three started at the City Ground and all three left a mark.

Trafford, signed for a record fee for a British goalkeeper, showed his worth early. Seventeen minutes in, Igor Jesus broke free and looked certain to score, only for the Leeds keeper to spring to his left and claw away the effort with a superb diving stop.

Wilson, who hit 10 goals and seven assists for Fulham last season, buzzed around the right flank and drifted inside to good effect. He will, though, replay one moment in his mind. When Bogle drilled a low ball across the box, Wilson took it on himself with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in an onside position behind him. The offside call spared him harsher scrutiny.

Muharemovic, meanwhile, brought aerial authority at both ends, his 70th-minute header the first time Leeds genuinely stretched Sels.

Yet this night belonged to Stach. Already renowned as one of the league’s elite from set-pieces, he underlined that status with another precise, ruthless finish. Since the start of last season, no player has scored more from outside the area than his five, and no one has more direct free-kick goals than his four.

Forest and Leeds will do it all again at the same ground on Tuesday, 25 August, in the Carabao Cup. For Glasner, that offers a quick chance to steady the mood. For Farke, after a winning start and a summer of heavy investment, it raises a different question: just how high can this Leeds side aim now?