Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool: Mac Allister injury-time winner

nottm forest vs liverpool ended in late drama as Alexis Mac Allister scored in injury time after having a previous goal ruled out, snatching a Liverpool win. The eventual winner looked offside but the tech said otherwise, and the match produced a series of frantic late moments and strong reactions.

Confirmed Liverpool line-up

Liverpool made two changes for today’s Premier League fixture at Nottingham Forest. Hugo Ekitike was restored in attack and Ryan Gravenberch returned to midfield. Federico Chiesa and Florian Wirtz made way from the team that began last weekend’s victory over Brighton & Hove Albion.

Wirtz had originally been named in the starting XI at the City Ground but was replaced by Curtis Jones before kick-off and withdrew from the squad. Freddie Woodman was added to the bench in his place.

Starting XI: Alisson, Van Dijk, Konate, Kerkez, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister, Salah, Jones, Gakpo, Ekitike, Gravenberch.

Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Gomez, Chiesa, Robertson, Nyoni, Ramsay, Morrison, Ngumoha.

Late VAR drama

At 90 minutes the referee called VAR. The question was whether the ball had struck the arm. It did; the elbow meant no goal at that moment. At 90+1 minutes the crowd roared — a goal would have been the weirdest of the season, but the rules dictated it could not stand. Anthony Taylor, briefly, became the darling of West Bridgford as Forest fans celebrated the disallowed effort.

By 90+3 minutes there was confusion over how many minutes had been added on; the copy notes "think seven minutes were added. " Sangare had a dig from distance in the chaos. At 90+5 minutes Mac Allister had not scored all season and when he thought he had, it was denied by VAR. Then at 90+8 minutes a long VAR check followed a sequence in which Aina had played Van Dijk onside; Pereira was incandescent with rage as Mac Allister finally had his goal. The narrative recorded that Mac Allister "didn’t even need his backside to break his duck. " The eventual winner looked offside but the tech said otherwise, and the report noted there may be more to come on that, perhaps from the Forest boardroom.

Sequence of late events

The match’s final minutes involved a scramble. Ngumoha forced the ball in; Ekitike headed at Ortega, who made a fine save, and as Aina tried to clear Mac Allister challenged and the ball ballooned in. A long throw for Joe Gomez produced a Szoboszlai ball into the box, Van Dijk’s header and Mac Allister bundled the finish after Ortega knocked it out.

Earlier in the same late period, at 88 minutes Lucca nodded a corner back but Ndoye’s shot was blocked. Liverpool tried to attack and Chiesa was squeezed off. Gomez was able to launch another long throw. At 87 minutes Gomez knocked behind as Ndoye chased a ball across the penalty area; Forest won a corner, and then another in quick succession. At 86 minutes Alisson mishandled a ball from Ndoye and it dropped to Gibbs-White; his shot grubbed off the floor and then Sangare smashes wide.

Reactions and repercussions

The late goal took some heat off Mohamed Salah but the match also produced pointed reaction from commentators. Ian Copestake wrote: "I lost alot of respect for Mo after his public assessment of bus routes, so am not surprised he expresses his usual displeasure at being rightly subbed. " Morgan Blake added: "I’m dreading another Salah tantrum. It seems like he’s always angry at being taken off, and never angry at himself for being rubbish. " Justin Kavanagh wrote: "Mo Salah looks like he is just using this part of the season to keep fit between his more important assignments for The Pharoahs, the Africa Cup of Nations and the King Donald Trump World Cup. "

There was a thousand-yard stare from Vitor Pereira as his coaches discussed where it all went wrong. The truth recorded in the match coverage is that Forest didn’t see it out; Nottingham Forest will rue a first half where they could not score. Liverpool’s players were described as delighted, with Ibrahima Konate whelping in delight. The note also recorded that Liverpool were poor until they brought on Rio Ngumoha. VAR lightning didn’t strike twice for Alexis Mac Allister, but the late drama changed the result.

Match takeaway

The finishing scoreline was decided in injury time after a complex series of checks and a decisive finish from Alexis Mac Allister. There may be further fallout from the offside-looking winner, and the City Ground crowd provided strong reactions throughout the final minutes.

nottm forest vs liverpool produced a 1-0 Liverpool victory secured by an injury-time Mac Allister goal after a prior disallowed effort.