Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool — Mac Allister’s late winner seals 1-0 victory
Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool ended in a stoppage-time winner as Alexis Mac Allister converted from a loose ball in the Forest penalty area to give Liverpool a 1-0 victory after an earlier effort had been ruled out.
Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool: the decisive moments
The match exploded in the final stages after a long, lacklustre 90 minutes. Mac Allister had a goal ruled out for handball when a Forest clearance by Ola Aina struck him, and later VAR intervened again before the winner was allowed to stand. One report placed the goal in the 97th minute while another put it in the 98th minute; the two figures differ in the provided accounts.
Earlier in the sequence, Hugo Ekitiké had a header that Stefan Ortega initially saved before the loose ball fell for Mac Allister. Arne Slot was described as apoplectic after the disallowed effort.
Forest’s performance and Vítor Pereira’s first league game
Vítor Pereira’s first league game in charge of Nottingham Forest was mixed: the side backed up Thursday’s 3-0 win at Fenerbahce with a promising performance but ultimately flattened by the late goal. Forest were aggressive from the first whistle: Ibrahim Sangaré pinched the ball from Curtis Jones then floated a cross for Callum Hudson-Odoi that forced Alisson into an early save inside two and a half minutes.
Forest showed signs of confidence from recent matches—Murillo opened the scoring in midweek and Nikola Milenkovic struck from distance seconds before half-time—but they still struggled to keep Liverpool out at the death. Florian Wirtz pulled out of the warm-up, with Curtis Jones taking his place.
Liverpool’s route to the win and key plays
Liverpool were sluggish at times and managed just a handful of meaningful chances in open play. Their first clearly incisive attacking move after the break came in the 53rd minute when Cody Gakpo cut inside from the left and floated a cross to Mohamed Salah at the back post; Salah cushioned a header down for Jones, whose volley was blocked by Ortega. Until the stoppage-time drama, that was Liverpool’s only other effort on target.
Salah contributed little else before being substituted for 17-year-old Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool moved level with Chelsea, who were held on Saturday, and Manchester United, who are not in action until Monday’s trip to Everton.
Other Premier League results and reactions
Crystal Palace won late as Evann Guessand’s goal decided a match against 10-man Wolves; their manager Oliver Glasner said the fans supported the team through difficult spells and praised the impact from the bench and the effect of the red card. Glasner also told Match of the Day that he had spoken to the board, that the club told him "No we think you are the right one, " and that he has no intention of standing in the club’s way if the board want a change. He described the last two years at Crystal Palace as their best in the club's history and said he is focused on turning the season around.
Fulham beat Sunderland 3-1, with Iwobi scoring Fulham’s third at Sunderland.
Fixture notes and what’s next
Tottenham host Arsenal in the north London derby at 16: 30 ET, with Spurs under new manager Igor Tudor and Arsenal needing a win after dropped points away to Brentford and Wolves. Manchester City beat Newcastle on Saturday to close the gap to two points. In LaLiga, Barcelona take on Levante as Hansi Flick’s side has a chance to go above Real Madrid.
Liverpool’s stoppage-time victory joins Crystal Palace’s late win and Fulham’s 3-1 result as the day’s decisive outcomes. Recovery and squad updates are unclear in the provided context; the next confirmed fixtures mentioned are Tottenham hosting Arsenal at 16: 30 ET and Manchester United’s trip to Everton on Monday.
