Leeds Snatch Late Win Over Nottingham Forest
Anton Stach silenced the City Ground with a late dagger, as Leeds snatched a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest to open their Premier League campaign in the most ruthless fashion.
The German midfielder stepped up in the 88th minute, placed the ball on the corner of the penalty area and whipped a low free-kick inside Matz Sels’ near post. One clean strike, one stunned stadium, one away end in uproar. It was Leeds’ first league victory at Forest since 1972 – and it arrived against the run of play.
Forest wasteful, Leeds ruthless
Oliver Glasner has spoken about pushing Forest into the top half this season. On this evidence, the old problems haven’t gone anywhere.
No new signings made the starting XI and the familiar story unfolded: neat approach play, plenty of territory, but no finish. By the time Stach’s set-piece crept in, Forest had already burned through a catalogue of chances.
The tone was set after a drab opening quarter-hour. On 16 minutes, Ola Aina launched a trademark long throw, Igor Jesus rose well and powered a header towards the far corner. James Trafford flung himself across goal and clawed it away, a sharp, stretching save that kept Leeds level.
Moments later, hearts were in mouths. Aina thundered into a challenge on James Justin and a VAR check followed for serious foul play. The home crowd held its breath; the tackle stood, and Forest escaped a red card that might have ripped up Glasner’s game plan.
Forest thought they had their breakthrough in the 25th minute. Harry Wilson slipped in and finished, only to see the flag go up. The offside call was correct, but it fed the feeling that the hosts were closing in.
They tightened their grip before half-time. James McAtee began to dictate from midfield, and in the 40th minute he delivered the kind of cross defenders hate. His ball arced perfectly onto the head of Nikola Milenkovic, whose glancing effort beat Trafford but crashed against the post. The rebound fell invitingly for Igor Jesus, yet he couldn’t adjust in time and Leeds survived again.
One-way traffic – but no breakthrough
Forest came out after the interval with the same intent. The pattern barely changed: red shirts pouring forward, white ones scrambling to hold firm.
Another Aina delivery caused chaos early in the second half. Jesus met it from close range but got his angles all wrong, thudding the header down and over when it looked easier to hit the target. Groans rolled around the ground. The chances were piling up; the scoreline refused to move.
Glasner turned to his bench and sent on Chris Wood. The former Leeds striker almost made the script inevitable. Murillo split the defence with a clever through ball, Wood strode clear, but dragged his shot wide of the far post. Trafford didn’t need to move. Leeds had been opened up again and again, yet the scoreboard still read 0-0.
Leeds, pinned back for long spells, finally flickered into life from their own set-piece threat. A deep delivery found Tarik Muharemovic, whose powerful header forced Sels into a flying save, the Forest goalkeeper arching through the air to tip the ball away. It was a reminder that, for all Forest’s dominance, the game remained fragile.
The warning didn’t change the script at the other end. Milenkovic went close once more, looping an effort towards the top corner that Trafford managed to fingertip onto the crossbar. The ball bounced away, and with it another opportunity.
Stach strikes, Leeds steal it
The pressure looked set to bring Forest at least a point. Instead, it broke them.
With two minutes of normal time left, Leeds earned a free-kick on the corner of the box. Stach stood over it, the away end rose in anticipation, and Forest hastily assembled a wall. The expectation was for a cross. Stach had other ideas.
He drove it low and hard towards the near post. Sels reacted late, the ball skidding under his arm and into the net. Leeds’ players sprinted towards their fans, a blur of white shirts and clenched fists. Smash-and-grab? Absolutely. But no one in the away section cared.
For Forest, the final minutes passed in frustration rather than fury. The earlier misses, the woodwork, the offside goal – it all fed into a familiar narrative of dominance without reward.
For Daniel Farke and Leeds, it was something very different: a gritty, opportunistic win, built on resilience at the back and one moment of quality at the death. After last season’s brush with relegation, they want to look upwards this time.
With a Carabao Cup rematch at the same ground on Tuesday, the question now is simple: can Forest find a ruthless edge, or will Leeds walk back into the City Ground already knowing exactly how to hurt them again?
