Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool — Mac Allister’s last-gasp winner called a 'heist' and boosts top-four hopes
nottm forest vs liverpool ended in chaos at the City Ground as Alexis Mac Allister hammered home a 97th-minute winner to seal a 1-0 victory that moved Liverpool level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United and kept them in the Champions League hunt.
Nottm Forest Vs Liverpool: Mac Allister’s late intervention
Mac Allister’s strike from close range in the 97th minute produced the decisive goal in a match that had looked destined to finish in a draw. The result gave Arne Slot’s side a 1-0 win at the City Ground, their third straight victory and third clean sheet in a row, and handed Liverpool crucial points that left them level with Chelsea and Manchester United in the table.
How the 97th minute unfolded
The frantic finish began when Stefan Ortega palmed away a header from Hugo Ekitike (also written Hugo Ekitiké in some accounts) after a dinked cross from Rio Ngumoha. Ola Aina’s attempted clearance cannoned off Alexis Mac Allister and into the net but that earlier strike was disallowed for handball; the ball was deemed to have hit his elbow, which was tight to his body.
VAR official Paul Tierney then extended stoppage time by at least five minutes. Liverpool reset; Joe Gomez, a late substitute, chose to find Dominik Szoboszlai infield rather than launch a long throw. Szoboszlai, facing Nicolás Domínguez about 30 yards from goal, shifted left and right to create space before sending a right-footed cross. Virgil van Dijk headed across goal, Murillo hooked the ball away but Mac Allister was on hand to hammer in from close range. A later VAR check cleared Van Dijk for offside.
Reactions: 'heist', anger and relief
Nottingham Forest boss Vítor Pereira was left numb in his first league game in charge and said he was "angry with football, " insisting his side did not deserve to lose. Home supporters had spent large parts of the afternoon chanting "In your head, Arne, Arne, Arne" to the tune of "Zombie" by The Cranberries while Pereira’s team dominated big spells of the match.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot conceded his team "got more than we deserved" and called the win a welcome change after previous misfortune. Slot said his emotions were "emotions of happiness and relief because this is the first time I have to do a different post match press conference, " adding, "We did not play a good game. We have been on the wrong side of the score after a good performance too many times. We got more than we deserved. A draw would have been a fair result. We needed to be on the right side of things once in a while. It felt we have been lucky. "
Jamie Carragher labelled the ending harsh on Nottingham Forest, calling it "one of the biggest robberies I've seen in the Premier League this season. " Forest were visibly devastated — Neco Williams was left on the turf as Liverpool celebrated, the away dugout emptied into the technical area and travelling fans went ballistic.
Players’ perspectives and turning points
Alexis Mac Allister said the disallowed goal "hit my back and my elbow. I understand the rule but if you understand football, that goal should have stood. " He added that Liverpool’s first half was poor in positioning, pressing and intensity, but that the second half was better. Virgil van Dijk urged the squad to "keep going" and to find their highest level, describing the match as a process and stressing the need to improve. Van Dijk noted they did not create many clear-cut chances, that Hugo Ekitike’s big chance was "massive" and that "he should have scored, " and credited long throws from Joey Gomez and a quality ball from Dominik Szoboszlai that led to the winner.
Forest’s recent momentum had come from a 3-0 win at Fenerbahce on Thursday, and their head coach elected to name an unchanged team despite the squad not returning from Turkey until Friday afternoon. For long stretches Liverpool appeared sluggish despite having last played eight days earlier; Slot described the first half as the worst of his tenure, with his side registering only two shots (one blocked, one off target) and just three touches in the opposition box in that opening 45 minutes.
Immediate consequence and what’s next
The 1-0 win at the City Ground kept Liverpool firmly in the Champions League conversation by drawing them level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United, while Chelsea stumbled to a draw with Burnley and Manchester United prepare to visit Everton on Monday. Virgil van Dijk said the team must "keep going" and highlighted another difficult test at the weekend versus West Ham United as the next focus.
Liverpool head into their weekend fixture on the back of three straight wins and three clean sheets, while Nottingham Forest are left to regroup after a game they and their manager felt they should not have lost.
