Dougie Freedman maintains his unbeaten record as Forest manager as they were held to a draw in a thrilling encounter with Blackpool as it finished 4-4 at Bloomfield Road. Gary Madine put Blackpool 1-0 up on the stroke of half-time and Orlandi made it two soon in the second. Goals from Dexter Blackstock and Gary Gardner then pulled Forest level before Davies restored Blackpool's lead. Forest then took a 4-3 lead with goals from Henri Lansbury and Chris Burke before Blackpool equalized in the last kick of the game with a header from Ferguson.
The game started off very scrappy which was no surprise considering the state of the Bloomfield Road pitch. Perkins hit a shot which bobbled across the surface but Darlow did well to hold. Michail Antonio was looking dangerous and causing problems for the Blackpool defence as the pitch meant neither him or the Blackpool defence had any idea where he was heading. Another big injury blow came in the 42nd minute for Forest as Jack Hobbs came off with a knee injury and was replaced by Jamaal Lascelles. Then came another blow as Blackpool took the lead in first half injury time as Gary Madine tucked the ball home from a dangerous cross to make it 1-0.
Forest started the second half with a big chance when Burke should have done better with an Antonio cross but failed to control the ball. Oliver Burke got handed his league debut for Forest as he replaced Matty Fryatt who had little impact on the game. Orlandi made it 2-0 to Blackpool soon after as he hit a great effort into the top corner of the net with Darlow having no chance. Forest got back into the game as Oliver Burke's flick was met by Blackstock who scored to make it 2-1 at the second time of asking. It was then 2-2 immediately as Antonio caused problems in the Blackpool area before the ball rebounded to Gary Gardner who had a simple tap-in. However, Forest weren't level for long as Blackpool restored their lead as Steven Davies finished from close range after an initial save by Darlow to make it 3-2 to the home side. Blackpool were pushing for a fourth when Oliver Burke's clearance found Antonio on the half way line who ran through on goal only to be taken out by Aldred in the penalty area who was subsequently sent off. Henri Lansbury stepped up and converted the penalty to make it 3-3 in what was turning out to be an incredible game. Blackpool had nine men for injury time as O'Dea collected an injury when they had used all their subs. There were nine minutes added on be the fourth official. Then Forest took the lead in 90+5 as Chris Burke tormented the Blackpool defence before unleashing a stunning effort into the top corner of the net. Then Blackpool showed incredible character to level the scores again from a corner when David Ferguson headed home to make sure the match ended 4-4.
Overall, I don't think many conclusions can be made from what was a crazy match on a awful pitch. What can be said is that Forest clearly have no problem scoring goals even without top scorer Britt Assombalonga. However, without Jack Hobbs in the team, the defence totally fell apart and to concede four goals to Blackpool isn't acceptable. If Forest can sort out their defensive issues they will win more games than they lose.
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