Wednesday 29th August 2018
Carabao EFL League Cup Second Round
at the City Ground
Nottingham Forest (1) 3
Daryl Murphy 2,
Matty Cash 90+4 ,
Gil Bastião Dias 90+7
Newcastle United (0) 1
Salomon Rondón 90+2
Attendance 13,942. Admission £15. Programme £2.
This was the second Nottingham Forest game that I'd watched in it's entirety over the last twenty four hours, given that one of the first things I did after returning from my long weekend in Wales, was to watch the Saturday evening game at the the City Ground, when Garry Monk's Birmingham City were the visitors, that I'd recorded. Given their respective standings in the Championship table, I think even the most optimistic Blues (in yellow) fan would've taken a 2-2 draw against Aitor Karanka's unbeaten, and highly rated home side. But, in the event, Birmingham actually snatched one point from the jaws of
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| Who knows? Maybe one day they'll name a stand after Aitor Karanka. |
three, when they let Forest back into it after leading 0-2 as late as the seventy fifth minute, with Lukas Jutkiewicz and Che Adams giving the visitors a two goal advantage, before Joe Lolley and Daryl Murphy both netted to deny the second city side their first victory of the season (at the current time only two other Championship haven't recorded a win yet; namely the botton two clubs: Reading and Ipswich Town), keep their own unbeaten run going and prompt the Bridgford Stand regulars into bursting into a cheery rendition of: "Two-nil and you phucked it up!"
I've heard the opinions of fans of both respective clubs and will just say: sometimes in football, you make your own luck.
Having scored three minutes before the end of the weekend's score draw, Daryl Murphy effectively scored again five minutes later when he opened the scoring tonight, with a near post header after a great run on the right and a well weighted delivery from Sam Byram.
Byram, a full back by trade, on loan at the City Ground from West Ham United, was here, there and everywhere during the first half tonight and was already pencilled in as man of the match, until he had to go off in the thirty eighth minute, having tried to resume playing after getting a knock while attempting to clear his lines after Joselu (otherwise known as José Luis Mato Sanmartín) had flicked on Sean Longstaff's left wing cross for the Magpies.
The home side were having (by far) the better of the game, as they put Newcastle out of the competition for the second year in a row, with the aforementioned Byram, Joe Lolley, Gil Dias, Joao Carvalho and Michael Hefele in particular, putting in a great shift apiece, along with Matty Cash, who would be entitled to jump up and down waving his hands in the air and shouting: "Oi! Look over here... don't forget about me!"
Needless to say, Karanka's tactics harness all of these individual performances for the common good of the team.
The Tyneside club had obviously done their homework as regards which opposition players would be instrumental in pulling the strings, because, although I'm not accusing them of anything untoward or sinister, but having already lost Byram after he had been hurt amidst the heat of the battle, Forest suffered again when Lolley limped off too, after he'd been 'tackled properly'; mind you, having Ben Osborn on the bench as a replacement can't be all bad.
I never was and never will be a Nottingham Forest supporter, but I enjoy watching them every now and again, mainly because of the way that they have been playing, since the Spaniard was appointed as their manager in January. But don't worry my friends, I'm not going all turncoat on you and deserting my post to sneak off elsewhere.
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When the local football writer and qualified referee:
Lee Clarke said he did bits for the Forest programme
I didn't realise that he was drawing the back covers. |
In spite of Rafael Benitez saying: "I don't agree that Forest were the better team and I'm not concerned by how we played", the home side most definitely were the more dominant team.
Even though the Geordies were adept and shifting the ball around and their movement off of the ball was excellent, pretty passages of play don't win games, whereas doing your damage in areas of the pitch that matter does.
Karanka was incensed and went beserk, when the fourth official held up his board, to signify that there would be six added minutes at the the end of the scheduled ninety... and then the game turned crazy too.
The Reds had spurned several good chances to increase their lead in normal time, particularly when Karl Darlow clawed the ball away from Carvalho and Federico Fernandez made a last ditch clearance after Darlow struggled with a shot from which Dias really ought to have done better.
Inevitably, Newcastle equalised in the second minute of added time, when (so much for Benitez's theory) Ayoze Perez cued a chance up for Salomon Rondón to score with what was the Magpies only effort on target all night.
The people who'd left early thinking the game was wrapped up at 1-0, should've hung around a bit longer instead, for the fun, games and drama that unfolded in stoppage time.
Two minutes after the visitors looked to have saved the day, Forest finally scored their second goal, when Darlow could only push a shot from Dias away and into the path of Cash, who slid in to divert the ball past the 'Mags' keeper.
The remaining home fans had their hearts in their mouths, when Perez went to ground in the Forest area, after the Forest keeper Luke Steele had made contact with him, but the match referee Jeremy Simpson, who was well placed to see the incident, and had had a good game all told, was unmoved by the subsequent penalty appeals as Forest countered quickly, Dias spotted Darlow advancing from his line and lifted the ball over him and into the back of the net... right, those of you who aren't already back in your cars can leave now, it's all over.
FT: Nottingham Forest 3 v Newcastle United 1
Of course, even though Forest had just beaten a Premier League side, I heard one of their supporters moaning as we were leaving the ground and undermining the result by saying that: "Of course, that wasn't Newcastle's strongest side, we wouldn't have beaten them". What a killjoy, but to redress the balance, this wasn't Forest's first choice eleven on show either, but some of them were knocking very loud on Karanka's door, to become a part of it, after such an accomplished and encouraging performance.
