When Anthony Taylor blew his whistle to signal full-time, Nuno Espirito Santo was not the only one in Forest colours who looked like he needed a lie down.
From 3-0 up before half-time, Forest had been hanging on through 12 minutes’ stoppage time as the effort they had shown in holding Liverpool to a draw five days ago finally started to take its toll.
Was this a sign of Forest’s resilience or an indication they may struggle to last the pace? Both may be true. After such an exhausting evening against Arne Slot’s men, it was never going to be easy for Forest here. The question now is whether they can regain energy for the challenges ahead. Even if the title may be beyond them, Forest have the tools to make the Champions League.
Elliot Anderson, Callum Hudson-Odoi – who later went off injured – and Chris Wood found the target in the first half, with Jan Bednarek’s freakish goal and Paul Onuachu’s late header keeping Ivan Juric’s men interested until the end. But it was the unseen aspects of this game, especially in the first half, that proved Forest’s mettle. First among them, Ola Aina’s stunning goalline clearance to stop Bednarek heading in his second and claiming a point for the visitors.
Rather than celebrate Anderson’s 11th-minute strike, Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo beckoned midfielder Nicolas Dominguez to the touchline to explain how he wanted the Argentine to improve his positioning out of possession.
Anthony Elanga catches the eye for his attacking play yet with Forest a goal up, the winger won a crucial header to clear a Saints corner when the visitors were enjoying a promising spell.
Nottingham Forest fended off Southampton to win 3-2 at the City Ground on Sunday afternoon
Forest remain third and are well-positioned to qualify for next season’s Champions League
Chris Wood has scored 15 goals in the Premier League this season – his best campaign ever
When he lost possession just inside the Saints half, Morgan Gibbs-White did not throw his arms in the air but raced back and retrieved the ball from Cameron Archer. Wood’s header from Aina’s cross – his 20th of the season for Forest and New Zealand – was no more important than the way he charged towards Flynn Downes to stop the midfielder’s shot at source.
Some people call this the ‘ugly side of the game’ yet in its own way, it is just as easy on the eye as Gibbs-White controlling a dropping ball first time, or Anderson and Hudson-Odoi finding the corner from outside the box, as they did for Forest’s first two goals. Put it another way: there was nothing attractive about Southampton’s defensive work before the interval.
It smacked of a group of players who know they are going down and have lost the appetite to prevent it.
Some will get moves – plus a big signing-on fee, naturally – and although those who stay will have their salaries reduced, they will not struggle to pay the bills. Compare that with club employees who earn a fraction of what the players do and are often the first to suffer when costs are cut after relegation.
What would they have thought when no Saints player thought to pick up Gibbs-White in centre-field, allowing him to flick Neco Williams’ throw-in into the path of Anderson? Or when Mateus Fernandes made little effort to stop Anderson surging forward to score? How about the marking – or lack of it – that enabled Wood to climb unchallenged and guide Aina’s delivery beyond Aaron Ramsdale? At least their second-half showing demonstrated a little pride.
The home fans were furious with referee Anthony Taylor for failing to book Downes for hacking down Gibbs-White, and then showing only a yellow card for his forearm smash on the same opponent. Taylor gave a typically fussy display and was barracked by both sets of supporters.
Forest should have made it four shortly after the interval when Elanga’s shot was saved and Dominguez’s follow-up was blocked on line
From nowhere, Southampton found a way back into the game when three substitutes combined for a bizarre goal. Ryan Manning’s free-kick was nodded down by Paul Onuachu to Lesley Ugochukwu, whose 20-yard effort flicked Bednarek’s heel and looped over a helpless Matz Sels.
Southampton are rock-bottom and still winless in the league under struggling boss Ivan Juric
The Saints hit back with two goals in the second half but it was too little too late for them
Only VAR spared Saints from conceding a fourth after another desperate piece of defending. Elanga’s free-kick was met by Nikola Milenkovic, who had drifted away from his markers, and Aaron Ramsdale somehow fumbled the ball over the line seven though it was headed straight at him. Luckily for the Saints ‘keeper, the goal was ruled out as Wood was judged to have impeded Ugochukwu.
Then it was Wood’s turn to be embarrassed as he found his feet in a tangle and turned a header from Jota Silva, on for the injured Hudson-Odoi, over the top from inside the six-yard box.
Southampton tried to increase the pressure with a series of high balls and soon after the fourth official had signalled 12 minutes’ stoppage time, Onuachu rose at the near post to head in Fernandes’ corner.
Bednarek thought he had done the same from another Fernandes kick only for Aina somehow to hook the ball away from his position on the far post.
