19 January 2025
Nott’m Forest 3 Southampton 2
Nottingham Forest welcomed bottom of the table Southampton to the City Ground. It has been a whirlwind campaign for the hosts, who at the start of the season, certainly did not have ambitions of Champions League football on their mind. However, that is now a realistic goal as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side tried to cement their place in the top four.
Southampton are in danger of breaking some unwanted records this season. Their return of six points from twenty-one games is the lowest ever seen in the Premier League. This is a side bereft of confidence who seem to fold like a pack of cards once that first goal goes in. They bossed the first-half at Old Trafford but could not convert their chances and paid the ultimate price.
As a move for the visitors broke down, Forest countered as Gibbs-White fed it through to Anderson. He ran towards goal, with The Saints’ players backing off him. The midfielder unleashed a shot into the bottom corner to give the hosts the lead. Ramsdale had no chance of getting to the well-struck effort from the former Newcastle man.
Ivan Juric is a bit of an anomaly to English football fans. His most notable appointment was at Roma, where he was sacked in his first season before heading to the Premier League. If he cannot see how toxic it is for this team to try and play out from the back, maybe football management is not for him. They just invite pressure upon themselves.
The elephant in the room reared its head again as The Saints were dispossessed just outside of their own box. Wood spotted Hudson-Odoi in space and the Forest winger drilled a superb shot into the far corner to double the hosts’ lead. Once again the strike had too much on it to give Ramsdale any chance of keeping it out for the visitors.
At this point you could see Southampton sinking without a trace. Nottingham Forest are brimming with confidence and were ready to put the visitors to the sword. Aina then picked the ball up out wide and put in an inch-perfect cross to find Wood in the box. He headed into the far corner to make it three-nil to the hosts. The City Ground was a cauldron of noise.
Walker-Peters has been one of The Saints’ players who has shown that he is more than comfortable at this level. He showed some great footwork out wide as he danced around two Forest defenders. The full-back cut inside and tried to get a shot off but dragged it narrowly wide of the near post. It was a glimmer of positivity for the visitors.
After the interval Forest continued to press. Jota Silva, the Temu Jack Grealish, did well out wide before cutting the ball back to Wood in the box. His shot was saved by Ramsdale but Gibbs-White really should have scored from the rebound. Instead his effort was blocked on the line by Bednarek as Southampton managed to scramble it clear.
The Saints continued to push forward, looking to feed off scraps in the final third. Ugochukwu looked to shoot from the edge of the box and Bednarek reacted quickest to divert his effort into the back of the net. His deflection took the ball past Sels and gave the travelling fans something to celebrate on the banks of the River Trent.
Things went downhill for Ramsdale when he spilt Milenkovic’s header into the back of the net. The keeper’s blushes were saved when a VAR review sent the referee to the monitor. It was decided that there was an offside in the build-up and the goal was ruled out. The former Arsenal keeper was relieved to have that one chalked off.
The usually reliable Wood then missed an absolute howler from a couple of yards out. You would have put your house on the in-form striker scoring. If he tried to repeat that effort a hundred times, he would find it harder to miss than score. It was another let-off for The Saints, who did not want this game turning into a rout at the City Ground.
The visitors kept on knocking on the door themselves and this was real end-to-end stuff. Onuachu got a header away in the box but Sels did well to claw it around the post. Another goal for The Saints would make for a nervy end to the game for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. The impressive Sulemana was causing problems out wide and was the next to test the keeper at his near post.
By this stage, the home fans would be happy to just hear the final whistle. When the fourth official raised their board to notify of twelve added minutes, there was a collective groan in the ground. The Saints forced a corner and Fernandes’ cross was headed home by Onuachu. Suddenly this game was in the balance once again.
Southampton were looking like a completely different team. Fernandes swung in another corner which was headed goalwards and Sels was beaten. Fortunately for the hosts, Aina was there to clear the ball off the line. The visitors had come so close to grabbing a point from the game. The Forest fans were begging for the game to end at this point.
Forest held on for all three points to open up a four point gap between themselves and fourth place. Nuno Espirito Santo will not be pleased by their second-half performance which allowed Southampton back into the game. If The Saints showed this side to their game more, they would not be in the quagmire they find themselves in.
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