Nottingham Forest returned to Premier League action on Saturday afternoon as The Reds hosted Leicester City at The City Ground.
Steve Cooper made one change from the side that defeated Wolves on Wednesday evening, with Scott McKenna replacing Willy Boly.
Forest started in an energetic fashion this afternoon and saw most of the ball in the opening minutes. The first chance of the afternoon fell to Ryan Yates when he leapt above Wout Faes to meet Remo Freuler’s in-swinging cross but his header flashed wide of the post.
Yates saw himself in the thick of the action once again when Scott McKenna’s interception cut through the middle of The Foxes defence, but he dragged his shot wide of Danny Ward’s goal from outside the area.
Leicester created a chance of their own when an unmarked Harvey Barnes met the cross of Marc Albrighton but he skewed his chance wide of the goal.
After Leicester asserted a period of continued pressured, The Reds grew into the game and the atmosphere lifted around The City Ground, although we failed to test Ward in The Foxes goal and the score line remained even at the half-time whistle blew.
Half time: Forest 0-0 Leicester City
Forest made the first change of the match at half time when Jack Colback was introduced to the fold in place of Ryan Yates.
Leicester should’ve taken the lead in the opening minutes of the second half when Youri Tielemans slotted in Barnes who was unable to hit the target from close range.
The Reds burst into life after this and enjoyed a spell of dominance. Brennan Johnson’s neat ball across the six-yard box was unable to find Morgan Gibbs-White, before Gibbs-White crafted a chance of his own weaving through the Leicester backline but he was unable to test Ward’s goal.
The deadline was broken moments later, when Gibbs-White’s ball unstuck the Leicester defence and was met by the surging run of Johnson, who rounded Ward and stroked the ball into the net. However, the celebrations were cut short when the assistant referee raised his flag. After a lengthy VAR break, the correct decision was made and the goal was given, much to the delight of The City Ground faithful.
The visitors were lucky to have eleven on the field as the match approached its final stages when Daniel Amartey lost possession and subsequently kicked Lewis O’Brien in his groin when the midfielder seemed destined to have a shot on goal.
The Reds doubled the lead when Gibbs-White picked up possession of the ball in his own half and found Johnson with a delightfully crafted pass with the outside of his boot, Johnson’s first touch was equally as impressive before he drilled the ball across Ward’s goal and it nestled in the net.
Following five minutes of additional time, Forest saw out the remaining minutes to secure the clean sheet and three points on Trentside as The Reds move to 13th in the league.
Full time: Forest 2-0 Leicester City
Nottingham Forest: Dean Henderson, Joe Worrall (C), Orel Mangala (Lewis O'Brien 70'), Serge Aurier (Neco Williams 86'), Morgan Gibbs-White, Gustavo Scarpa (Sam Surridge 55'), Renan Lodi, Brennan Johnson, Ryan Yates (Jack Colback 45'), Remo Freuler, Scott McKenna
Substitutes: Wayne Hennessey, Steve Cook, Harry Toffolo, Alex Mighten, Emmanuel Dennis
Goals: Johnson (56', 84')
Leicester City: Danny Ward, Timothy Castagne, Wout Faes, Daniel Amartey, Luke Thomas (Lewis Brunt 68'), Wilfred Ndidi, Youri Tielemans, Marc Albrighton (Kelechi Iheanacho 68'), Nampalys Mendy (Dennis Praet 68'), Harvey Barnes, Jamie Vardy
Substitutes: Daniel Iversen, Jannik Vestergaard, Kasey McAteer, Çağlar Söyüncü, Patson Daka, Sammy Braybrooke