Anton Stach's Late Free-Kick Seals Leeds Victory Over Forest
Oliver Glasner walked into the City Ground to a roar and left to a groan. Nottingham Forest’s new head coach, the fifth man in the dugout in under a year, saw his Premier League reign begin with a punch to the gut – a late 1-0 defeat to Leeds United sealed by a set-piece specialist with ice in his veins.
Stach silences the City Ground
With the clock ticking towards 90 minutes and an even, bitty contest seemingly drifting towards a draw, Leeds finally found their moment.
Anton Stach, who had spent most of the afternoon probing from distance and dead balls, drew a foul from Nikola Milenkovic just outside the Forest box. The German placed the ball, took a short run-up and whipped his free-kick over the wall and inside Matz Sels’ near post in the 88th minute.
Sels flung himself across but never got there. Forest’s defenders turned to each other in disbelief; the Leeds bench exploded.
It was a finish worthy of the numbers behind it. Since the start of last season, no player has scored more from direct free-kicks than Stach’s four, and this was his fifth goal from outside the area in that period – again, more than anyone else in the league.
A tight, tactical opener was decided by one clean strike.
A cagey opener to the Glasner project
Glasner, appointed last month after Vitor Pereira was sacked despite guiding Forest away from relegation danger, cut an animated figure on the touchline. His side matched Leeds for long spells, but the pattern of the game never really broke open.
Set-pieces told the story. Most of the afternoon’s real chances came when the ball was dead rather than when it was flowing.
As the half-hour mark approached, Leeds thought they had spoiled the party. New signing Harry Wilson arrived in the box to sweep Jayden Bogle’s low cross into the net, only for the assistant’s flag to chop the celebration short. Offside. Forest breathed again.
That scare seemed to jolt the hosts. They finished the half stronger, forcing Leeds back and finally unsettling James Trafford, the club-record British goalkeeper signing.
From a scramble inside the Leeds area, centre-back Jair Cunha rose highest and crashed a header against the post. The City Ground held its breath, then groaned in unison as the ball bounced away from danger.
Leeds’ new faces show their worth
Daniel Farke had demanded backing after Leeds finished eight points clear of the bottom three last season. He got it – to the tune of around £80m.
Trafford, Wilson and Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic all started at the City Ground and each had a moment that justified the investment.
Trafford, signed for a record fee for a British goalkeeper, needed just 17 minutes to show why the club pushed so hard for him. Igor Jesus met an early cross with a firm header, only for Trafford to spring to his right and claw the ball away with a full-stretch, diving save. It was the kind of stop that settles a debut.
Wilson, fresh from 10 goals and seven assists with Fulham last season, buzzed around the right flank, always looking to drift inside. He will, though, replay one moment in his mind. When Bogle fizzed a low ball across the box, Wilson darted in front and turned it home, unaware Dominic Calvert-Lewin was lurking onside just behind him. The flag spared him any serious inquest, but the chance hinted at the sharpness Leeds now carry in attack.
Muharemovic’s impact came later. On 70 minutes, his powerful header forced Sels into his first real test, the Forest keeper reacting sharply to push the effort away. It was a warning of Leeds’ growing threat from their own set-plays.
Forest threaten, Leeds endure – then strike
Forest were not passengers in any of this. Ten minutes after the restart, Ola Aina swung in a teasing cross and Igor Jesus attacked it, only to glance his header wide. The home crowd sensed a breakthrough; instead, they got a slow tightening of tension.
Leeds absorbed the pressure, leaned on Trafford’s authority and began to edge the territorial battle. The game felt destined to be decided by a mistake or a moment of quality.
The mistake came in the form of Milenkovic’s foul. The quality belonged entirely to Stach.
His free-kick didn’t just win a match. It underlined why Farke has built so much of his attacking threat around the German’s dead-ball delivery. Curl, dip, precision – it had all of it, and Forest had no answer.
Leeds look up, Forest left to stew
For Leeds, this was the ideal launchpad. A clean sheet away from home, big-money signings settling quickly, and a specialist match-winner reminding the league of his edge from distance. It gives Farke’s side licence to look higher than simply surviving.
For Glasner and Forest, the picture is more complicated. The performance had structure, chances and aggression, but no points. The margins were thin; the disappointment is not.
There is no time to dwell. These two will do it all again at the same venue on Tuesday, 25 August, in the second round of the Carabao Cup.
Same ground. Same opponents. Will Forest’s new era find its voice, or will Leeds tighten their grip on this budding rivalry?
