Nottingham Forest's frustration was increased as Leeds United came back from behind to snatch a 1-1 draw at the City Ground. Matty Fryatt scored late on in the first half to put Forest ahead. Billy Sharp then cancelled Fryatt's goal out by converting from the penalty spot early on in the second half. The game was surrounded by controversy as Fryatt had two more goals disallowed which appeared to be onside.
It was a very scrappy start to the game, but it was still obvious that Forest were very low on confidence after failing to win since the 3-0 victory at Wolves. Leeds came closest to taking the lead in the early part of the game as Mowatt's shot took a deflection which saw it go just wide. Then came the first bit of controversy in the game at around the 20th minute mark. Antonio caused Leeds all sorts of problems in the box before finding Matty Fryatt who prodded home only for the linesman to have his flag up for offside. However, replays show that Fryatt was onside due to Sam Byram playing him on. This was the first poor and costly decision the referee made in the game. The game was then interrupted as another pitch invader came onto the pitch, a sight which is becoming familiar at the City Ground this season. He managed to avoid several stewards before being taken down pretty much in the Forest dugout. Dexter Blackstock appeared to be struggling with a slight knock and he was taken off in the 41st minute and replaced by Britt Assombalonga. Many fans will say that it should have started this way in the first place. Forest then took the lead in the match in injury time in the first half. Lansbury's corner was headed on by Michael Mancienne giving Fryatt the easiest goal he will score this season to put Forest 1-0 up.
Leeds came out and started the second half brightly, which came at no surprise considering they needed to find a way back into the game. Their way back into the game came as Sam Byram dribbled past several challenges in the area and was then foolishly taken down by Danny Fox. This gave Billy Sharp the chance to level the scores from the spot which he did as he smashed it down the middle of the goal. Then came the second piece of controversy in the game as Matty Fryatt ran through from a flick on and smashed the ball into the net, he was again ruled out by the linesman for offside. This time Sky replays were shown live in the ground which clearly showed Fryatt was onside much to the home crowd's displeasure. This meant Fryatt pretty much had scored a hat trick with two of his goals being unfairly ruled out. This left Forest yet again frustrated at full time.
Overall, I have been left in frustration for many reasons from this game. Even without those decisions going against us, we still should have had enough to beat that Leeds team comfortably. It was obvious from the first five minutes that Leeds were not a very good team at all and that Forest must win the game. However, Forest still played pretty poor football at times and gave possession away too easily. I do understand however that Forest would have won the game 3-1 had the referee and his team been of a better quality meaning that we could have dropped a vital two points.
No comments:
Post a Comment