Nottingham Forest do not have to wait long for the chance to put things right. Leeds United return to the City Ground on Tuesday for a Nottingham Forest Carabao Cup second-round tie, three days after Anton Stach’s late free-kick settled the Premier League opener 1-0 and soured Oliver Glasner’s first match in charge of the Reds.
Forest, who enter the competition at the second round, were undone by the one moment Glasner’s side could not legislate for. Stach’s whipped right-footed effort crept in at Matz Sels’s near post with a couple of minutes of normal time remaining. As the Guardian reported from the City Ground, only Dominik Szoboszlai bettered the Germany midfielder’s three direct free-kick goals in the Premier League last season — and one of those came against Glasner’s Crystal Palace.
What the Nottingham Forest Carabao Cup rematch has to fix
Daniel Farke was not remotely surprised. “I expected when he was over the free-kick that he could do something special. He has done it time and time again,” the Leeds manager said. “Last season, I would have never thought about it. [Now] I trust him with everything.”
Forest’s own read was more forgiving. Glasner told BBC Radio Nottingham he “could see many encouraging things” in a display that was short of clear chances rather than short of effort, and the Austrian has repeatedly asked for time in his opening weeks on Trentside.
Tuesday offers immediate redress against the same opponents, plus a first look at how deep Glasner is prepared to dig into his squad in a competition the Tricky Trees have won four times. Our match report from Saturday’s 0-1 defeat has the full picture of the opening day Forest will want to rewrite.
