Substitute Diogo Jota’s header seconds after coming on denied Nottingham Forest a spectacular victory against Liverpool in a vibrant 1-1 draw at the City Ground.
Chris Wood had given Forest, a surprise top-four rival, a dream lead in the eighth minute and was looking forward to a moment when they could knock out the Premier League leaders with a brilliant performance.
But Jota came to the rescue of Arne Slot’s side to earn what was probably a deserved draw, with Forest stopper Matz Sels making a series of brilliant saves to earn a point for the hosts.
The draw means Liverpool maintain their six-point lead at the top of the table, with Forest leapfrogging Arsenal into second place ahead of tomorrow’s north London derby.
Nottingham Forest vs Liverpool
Wood caused chaos at the City Ground in the eighth minute with a typically devastating counter-attack after spending much of the previous seven minutes fending off early pressure from the league leaders.
A through ball from Anthony Elanga found the New Zealand international, who took a touch before calmly slotting past Alisson for his 13th of the season.
Just listen to that roar 🔊
Chris Wood opens the scoring for Nottingham Forest with a perfectly executed break 🔥
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 14, 2025
Liverpool continued to dominate the ball with 71% possession in the first half, but were unable to hit any of their nine attempts on goal in the first half, with Luis Diaz guilty of two wayward shots.
The home team continued to be useful even though they barely saw the ball. Murillo was not far behind shortly after Wood’s goal with a long-range shot as the first half ended leaving Arne Slot with a lot to think about.
Jota rescues Liverpool
Much of the same continued in the second half, as Liverpool continued to struggle to break down a stubborn Forest defence, until Jota’s introduction just after the hour mark.
Within 30 seconds of being introduced to save the game in place of defender Ibrahima Konate, the Portuguese striker was in the perfect position to head in the corner from close range and draw Liverpool level.
The 28-year-old was denied the chance to put the visitors ahead after cutting inside before his shot was saved in the Forest goal by Matz Sels.
The definition of instant impact 😤
Diogo Jota scores with his first touch of the game just 25 seconds after being substituted ⏰
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 14, 2025
Jota continued to lead Liverpool’s bid for the winning goal but was once again stopped by the brilliance of Sels, who ran wide and produced a wonderful save from close range with just over 10 minutes left.
However, Forest were unwilling to give up a famous victory as Elanga’s cross-goal ball evaded Jota Silva inside the six-yard box.
Mohamed Salah seemed to have finally found his shooting boots in the 88th minute, but was unable to capitalize on three big opportunities, the first two thanks to another save from Sels and a block on the line from Ola Aina, before failing to hold on to a left-footed shot. volley down.
Belgian stopper Sels was on hand to keep the tie level again late on, when Dominik Szoboszlai’s long-range shot skimmed the post in stoppage time.
