It never rains but it pours. Nottingham Forest, forced to cut their ticket prices twice this week to entice a near-capacity crowd back to the City Ground, can’t buy a win at the moment. Twice, now, they have lost to FC Midtjylland in this competition this season after Cho Gue-sung, the substitute, further dampened their spirts on a night when a second-half downpour was so severe the ball started getting stuck in puddles.
What a muddle Forest find themselves in. A single point above the relegation zone, their fourth manager of the season, Vítor Pereira, without a win in his last five games, their global head of football, Edu, on his way out, they now have to overcome this one-goal deficit in next week’s second leg to earn a Europa League quarter-final with Porto or Stuttgart.
Yet their home game with Fulham on Sunday will take such elevated significance now as they seek to retain their Premier League status. Ten minutes from time, Forest’s night was dealt the ultimate dampener. Ousmane Diao was given too much time to cross, from the inside-right channel, and then Aina remained on his heels as Cho sprang in front of him to head down and beyond Sels into the bottom corner.
The 300-odd Midtjylland fans may have been making a racket in their corner of the Bridgford Stand, jumping up and down in unison to the constant beat of a drum, but the action on the field was very quiet for the opening half hour.
The Danish title chasers know what it takes to win at the City Ground, after their 3-2 triumph here in October helped lead Ange Postecoglou towards his swift exit, and Forest were cagey in the opening exchanges. Vitor Pereira asked Callum Hudson-Odoi to attack from left wing-back, with Ola Aina on the other flank, as Forest matched up the visitors’ shape.
It was from Forest’s left that Philip Billing, formerly of Bournemouth, crossed from near the byline in the third minute and Júnior Brumado, somehow left unmarked, headed past Matz Sels. Murillo cleared off the line, to the home crowd’s relief, but Forest’s consternation was exacerbated when Jair Cunha, an injury doubt before the game, had to go off in the ninth minute after rolling an ankle. At least Pereira could call upon Nikola Milenkovic, Murillo’s regular centre-back partner, and Forest gradually gained a foothold.
The City Ground was pretty much full, after the rumpus over elevated ticket prices had led to two reductions this week, and fans were treated to an increasingly confident-looking Forest attack as energy belatedly infiltrated the first half. Elías Rafn Ólafsson produced a flying save to tip over Omari Hutchinson’s left-foot drive and then kept out Aina’s swerving drive; he was relieved when Igor Jesus spooned a difficult rebound wide. The chances started flowing for Forest, in the teeming rain, as half-time approached.
Pereira’s only win prior to this game had been in his first match in charge, 3-0 away to Fenerbahce, and Murillo surged forwards from halfway in an attempt to force the narrative, slipping the ball out wide to Hutchinson just inside the Midtjylland area, only for his shot to be deflected behind. A brilliant long-ranger from Anderson, by now getting further forward, was tipped over, Billing headed Jesus’s effort over, with goalkeeper having gone for a wander, before Morgan Gibbs-White’s side-footed effort was deflected wide after Hutchinson’s pullback.
Both teams made a change at the interval and, appropriately enough, as the rainfall became a deluge, the game became far more fluid. Forest, reverting to their usual back four, with Neco Williams replacing Morato, started to interchange positions much more, Jesus dropping deep in an attempt to pull Martin Erlic, the central man in their back five, out of position. Aina, popping up on the edge of the Midtjylland area, struck a fierce shot against Gibbs-White; Nicolás Domínguez drove just wide. Valdemar Andreasen, the Midtjylland substitute, also made an impact, however: first his shot skidded off the sodden surface to force Sels to fend the ball behind; then, from the ensuing corner, Andreasen’s next effort crashed against the Forest bar.
The rain was so torrential, leaks started to make their way through the stand roofs and the ball started holding up in puddles on the itch. Around the hour mark, there were questions about whether this match would make it to 90 minutes.
