Nottm Forest v Coventry
Play By Play
The game ended with controversy and plenty of drama as Coventry earn themselves a first and monumental win of the season, beating Forest 1-0 at the City Ground. The first half was devoid of any real goalmouth action as both sides struggled to find any kind of attacking rhythm. The onus was on the home side to do something about that in the second period, but it was Coventry who went in front through the unlikeliest of sources. Dasilva chose the perfect moment to produce a terrific first goal for the club after he sneaked around the back of Munoz to steam in towards the goal and fire a left-footed shot beyond Sels and into the corner of the net on 55 minutes. Goalkeeper Rushworth was the man to pick him out and pick up an assist. Forest threw all of their strikers on but never really looked any more likely but thought they had pinched a late point when Jesus picked the pocket of Yirenkyi and prodded home from close range on 86 minutes. A VAR check called for closer inspection from on-field referee Gillett who ruled it out for a trip on the Coventry midfielder. Forest will be a little disappointed with their paltry xG of 1.15 in a game where they would have expected to create more. Coventry's xG was lower at 0.67, but they defended resolutely and got the win. The three points moves Coventry off the bottom of the table to leapfrog Fulham and Tottenham. Forest sit in 12th following the loss. Thank you for joining us this evening and goodbye!
FULL-TIME: FOREST 0-1 COVENTRY
A tactical foul results in another caution for Forest from Gillett this evening.
Gibbs-White loses his composure and slings his opponent to the floor. Forest are losing patience and losing time to affect this game.
Yirenkyi - after all that drama - comes off with Latibeaudiere coming on for the final moments.
There will be another six minutes for Coventry to hang on here.
NO GOAL!!! DIRECT FREE KICK FOR COVENTRY!! Initially, it looked like Jesus had scored after Yirenkyi went down in his own area under pressure. It looked soft at first, but it appears Jarred Gillet felt that enough contact caused the gradual fall from Yirenkyi. The on-field referee was sent to te monitor to make his own mind up regarding the incident and announced his decision of 'no goal'.
GOAL JESUS!! WHAT WAS YIRENKYI DOING THERE?? It looks like Jesus has scored the equaliser as he robs the ball from Yirenkyi who falls in stages to the ground as he faces his own goal. But hang on, a VAR check will take place.
A step-over and a smart one-two by Gibbs-White sees him blocked off by Onyeka on the edge of the box, but the imposing midfielder did nothing wrong and the referee gesticulates dramtically with arms stretched out wide to indicate no free kick.
Sangare comes on for McAtee, who was bright in the first half but has faded since.
Munoz departs with Netz coming on to play down the left. The German is yet to open his Forest account since joining the club in February.
A series of hopeful rather than accurate crosses are lofted into the Coventry area. Are they just hoping something drops for their powerful forwards at this point? The craft and guile has been missing from their performance tonight. They have looked bereft of ideas and look dejected.
The away fans cheer as Yirenkyi chests back a cross confidently to his keeper, Rushworth. The away support is desperate to push this team over the line for their first win of the season. They have fought gallantly and just need to navigate the next 10 minutes without conceding.
WHAT A CLEARANCE FROM THOMAS!!! Gibbs-White slides a pass down the side for Jesus who dinks his shot beyond Rushworth who comes out to smother him inside the area. The shot is on target and would have gone in but for the acrobatic hook clear from Thomas. Incredible defending from the Coventry centre-back.
Forest now have Delap and Wood as archetypal forwards playing together with Jesus also on the pitch with Gibbs-White. All of Glasner's strikers are there but so far they have failed to put it all together cohesively.
On comes Simms with Rudoni going off. Simms is likely to play through the middle with Thomas-Asante more than likely pulling over to the flank previously occupied by Rudoni.
Wood comes on as Glasner rolls the dice again and puts another Forest striker on the pitch. He comes on for centre-back Diomande in an obvious change of shape.
Ellis Simms is being prepared on the sidelines. Coventry need an outlet and he may provide more chance of the ball sticking when it goes further up the pitch. As attention diverts away from that, Thomas-Asante fires a ball across towards his attacking teammates but cannot find Yirenkyi or Rudoni with the pass.
Forest are now pouring on the pressure and are monopolising the ball. Coventry need to be brave enough to keep wanting to get on the ball and impose themselves in this final quarter of the match. If not it will feel a very long 20 minutes or so.
Yirenkyi again gives the referee a decision to make by putting his hands on the back of Williams inside the penalty area. It was not - on this occasion - enough to warrant a penalty, but you would imagine Coventry fans are a little nervous at the amount of fouiling he gets through.
Needless to say, this would be a huge result for Lampard who would have been feeling the pressure following the opening Premier League games this season. Of the managers who have taken charge of 25+ games since the 22/23 season in the Premier League, only one manager has a worst win ration than Frank Lampard. The former Everton boss has a win rate of 12.1% with only Kieran McKenna faring worse with 10.5%.
DIOMANDE FIRES ACROSS GOAL!!! A chipped pass from the right-hand side by Schlager finds the most unlikely recipient in Diomande up from the back looking to boost Forest's chances of a goal. His left boot blasts the ball across the face of goal, but the flag is retrospectively put up on the far side. It wouldn't have counted anyway.
The introduction of Jesus has ramped up the noise here in the midlands and the hope is that they will have more punch in attack if he is to play closer to Delap.
Gibbs-White drifts a beautifully weighted pass with the outside of his boot that drops into the penalty area looking for Schlager who had made a run across into the left side of the box, but he can't quite bring it down. Nice innovative thinking though from Gibbs-White. Forest need him in the game more.
Forest look for more penetration up top and so turn to Igor Jesus who comes on for Ndoye who has worked hard but struggled to positively impact this game in the crucial areas.
