Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest Opening Loss to Leeds United
Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest tenure began with a gut punch at the City Ground – a late, curling free-kick from Anton Stach sealing a 1-0 win for Leeds United in their Premier League opener.
Stach’s late sting silences City Ground
For 88 minutes, Forest had matched Leeds stride for stride. Then came the moment that split them.
Stach, one of the division’s deadliest from dead balls, won a foul from Nikola Milenkovic on the edge of the area. He placed the ball, took a short run-up and whipped it over the Forest wall, bending it just beyond Matz Sels’ reach at the near post. Two minutes of normal time left. No way back.
It was Stach’s fifth goal from outside the box since the start of last season – more than any other player – and his fourth direct free-kick in that spell, a record no one can better. One swing of his right boot turned a hard-earned point for Forest into a brutal opening-day defeat.
Glasner’s new era, same City Ground tension
Glasner, appointed last month as Forest’s fifth manager in under a year after Vitor Pereira’s dismissal, had walked into a club that escaped relegation danger but never escaped turbulence. This was his first chance to reset the mood.
For long spells, his side looked organised and combative. Set-pieces, though, told the story of the afternoon.
Leeds thought they had drawn first blood just before the half-hour. Jayden Bogle darted down the right and drilled a low cross into the area, Harry Wilson timing his run to side-foot home on what looked like a dream debut. The away end erupted – briefly. The flag went up, and replays confirmed the offside. Forest escaped.
That scare jolted the hosts. They finished the half stronger, pinning Leeds back and forcing mistakes. In a scramble inside the Leeds box, centre-back Jair Cunha rose highest and thumped a header against the post, the ball ricocheting away with Illan Meslier’s replacement, James Trafford, beaten.
The City Ground groaned. It would not be the last time.
Trafford stands tall, Forest left ruing misses
Leeds arrived with expectation and investment behind them. After Daniel Farke urged the board to push on from last season’s eight-point cushion above the bottom three, the club committed around £80m on three starters: goalkeeper Trafford, winger Wilson and Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic.
All three justified their selection in different ways.
Trafford, signed for a record fee for a British goalkeeper, had his first big moment after just 17 minutes. Igor Jesus climbed to meet a cross and powered a header towards the corner, only for Trafford to fling himself to his left and claw it away. It was the kind of save clubs pay heavily for – and one that underlined why Leeds did.
Wilson, fresh from 10 goals and seven assists with Fulham last season, buzzed around the final third, constantly looking to break lines. His sharp movement nearly paid off when he darted in front of Dominic Calvert-Lewin to meet Bogle’s low delivery, but with the striker onside and better placed behind him, the chance went begging and the winger’s frustration was obvious.
Muharemovic, meanwhile, grew into the game and almost broke it open. On 70 minutes, his thumping header forced Sels into his first serious save, the Forest goalkeeper springing across to parry. It felt like a warning. Leeds were edging closer.
Forest had their moments after the break as well. Ten minutes into the second half, Igor Jesus again threatened, this time glancing a header wide after attacking an inviting cross from Ola Aina. The home crowd sensed a breakthrough. It never came.
Leeds strike first in a season of higher ambitions
As the clock ticked down, the contest remained finely balanced, both sides still leaning on set-pieces for their clearest looks at goal. Then Stach stepped up and ripped the script.
His free-kick did more than decide an opening day. It offered a glimpse of what Leeds might become under Farke with serious backing and a spine strengthened by Trafford, Muharemovic and Wilson.
Forest, meanwhile, must absorb the blow quickly. The same two sides meet again at the City Ground in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday, 25 August (20:00 BST).
Glasner will not need reminding: in a club that has already burned through four managers in under a year, how long can performances without points buy him time?
