Nottingham Forest 0–1 Liverpool: Mac Allister Strikes Late to Break City Ground Curse

Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister is an example to the footballing world and beyond of perseverance when denied a breakthrough for reasons beyond your control. The Argentine sealed a dramatic last-minute winner at the City Ground, sending travelling Liverpudlians into pandemonium and securing Liverpool’s first victory there in almost two years.

The result levels the Reds on points with Chelsea and, momentarily, with Manchester United who are due to travel across Merseyside to face David Moyes’ Everton on Monday night.

Vitor Pereira’s “Tricky Trees” will feel bitterly disappointed after failing to convert any of their 18 attempts on goal. Forest dominated possession in the first half but lacked the cutting edge required for a breakthrough. A second period that saw their tempo drop ultimately allowed Liverpool to strike late and break Nottingham hearts. Forest remain very much in the relegation debate, sitting just two points adrift of safety with daunting trips to Brighton & Hove Albion and Manchester City ahead.

The opening 45 minutes ended with warm applause from the home crowd, as Forest controlled proceedings but failed to make any of their 12 first-half attempts count.

Forest burst out of the blocks, capitalising on repeated Liverpool errors in their own third. Callum Hudson-Odoi had arguably the best chance of the half when Curtis Jones was dispossessed by Ibrahim Sangaré. The Ivorian fed Hudson-Odoi, but Alisson Becker produced a tremendous save, spreading himself to deny the Ghanaian international inside two minutes of kick-off.

Eight minutes later, relentless frontline pressure forced further errors. Jones again struggled under pressure, allowing Elliot Anderson to drive toward the penalty area, but his effort drifted wide.

According to commentator Ian Darke, Liverpool were “terrible” in the first half, managing just two attempts none on target. Arne Slot’s side looked relieved to hear the half-time whistle, having struggled to string together passes in the attacking third while facing continuous waves of Forest pressure.

Forest looked more likely to break the deadlock early in the second half. Nikola Milenković’s header narrowly missed the target after a superb delivery from Hudson-Odoi, while Hugo Ekitike partially cleared the danger from the resulting phase.

Liverpool finally registered their first genuine chance in the 52nd minute. Cody Gakpo cut inside and found Mohamed Salah, who laid it off for Curtis Jones. His effort was denied by the outstretched leg of former Manchester City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

From that moment, Liverpool began to erode Forest’s dominance. Morgan Gibbs-White saw a close-range effort blocked by Andrew Robertson, while Sangaré fired wide on the rebound following a dangerous delivery from Neco Williams.

With six minutes of normal time remaining, the breakthrough still felt imminent.

Liverpool thought they had found it when Alexis Mac Allister bundled the ball home after Ekitike was denied, but VAR ruled that the ball had struck the Argentine’s elbow in the build-up.

However, as stoppage time turned into overtime, Liverpool had one final opportunity. Joe Gomez opted for a short throw instead of launching it long, finding Dominik Szoboszlai, whose cross located Virgil van Dijk.

His header was cleared off the line by Murillo but only as far as Mac Allister, who smashed home the rebound to deliver a dramatic late winner

Liverpool’s victory keeps their Champions League hopes alive and restores belief after a difficult spell away from home.

Forest, meanwhile, must regroup quickly. They host Fenerbahçe midweek in the Europa League play-off second leg before travelling to Brighton in the Premier League. Liverpool return to Anfield next Saturday to face relegation-threatened West Ham United.