A night to remember as Nottingham Forest show they are the real deal in draw with table-topping Liverpool
Nottingham Forest underlined that their challenge for a European Champions League place – and even the Premier League title – is a serious one as they went toe to toe with table-topping Liverpool in a thrilling 1-1 draw at the City Ground on Tuesday night.
Chris Wood's early breakaway goal was cancelled out by the first touch from Liverpool sub Diogo Jota from a second half corner before the Reds withstood a late onslaught by the leaders with keeper Matz Sels making three fine saves to preserve the point.
That made it four points from two games against Liverpool for Forest, having won at Anfield – the Merseysiders’ only league defeat.
To see these two old rivals at each other's throats again was a reminder of their huge rivalry in the late 1970s when Forest won back to back European Cups and current manager Nuno Espirito Santo said: “It was a good game - it was entertaining, especially in the final minutes.
“First half I think we were organised and didn't allow too many situations.
“The second half was like ping-pong and that is when Liverpool become stronger, when they have space and with the speed and talent they have it is very dangerous.
“I am very proud of the team for the way they worked and ran, especially up and down and the sprints to recover and the desire to attack.”
Nuno also paid tribute to the help an incredible atmosphere from the sell-out home crowd gave his side, saying: “It was very special.
“The bond the team and the fans are building on this journey we want to share together is very helpful. We cannot thank them enough.
“It is amazing. Today they helped us defend. We didn't have the ball for so much time and they kept supporting us realising how tough the opponent is.
“The support in the last seven minutes felt like they were giving extra runs to our players.”
The football world is now slowly conceding Forest's unlikely challenge at the top is the real deal, but Nuno said: “We are a big club, we don’t need anything to prove that. Forest is a big club.
“I think the words from Ryan Yates (in the huddle before kick-off at Anfield when he told his teammates they had to believe Forest are a big club) was a demonstration of the respect they have among themselves and don’t allow anyone to stop believing that we can achieve something nice.
“When you finish the game and go in the dressing room, always the players are not very fair on their judgement.
“They were disappointed, but now you look back and say Liverpool had a lot of chances.
“But just having that feeling shows we are slowly progressing in what we want to become.”