Second-bottom Nottingham Forest claimed their first league win since the opening game of the season after second-half goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson gave them a crucial 3-1 home victory over fellow strugglers Leeds.
The come-from-behind win is Sean Dyche’s first league victory in charge of Forest and ended the club’s nine-game winless Premier League run, which moves them a point from safety.
Leeds’ third successive away defeat has pulled them into danger, with Daniel Farke’s side now just a point above the drop zone.
The visitors took a 13th-minute lead through Lukas Nmecha’s fine low finish, which proved to be their only shot of the first half.
Just two minutes and 17 seconds after Nmecha’s opener, Ibrahim Sangare slotted home from close range to quickly level for his first Forest goal.
Dyche then masterminded the turnaround by making a triple second-half substitution that saw Omari Hutchinson brought on – and the £37.5m summer signing made a real impact.
The winger produced a fine 68th-minute cross for Gibbs-White to glance in, with the Forest captain atoning for his penalty miss in Thursday’s Europa League goalless draw at Sturm Graz.
The header was also the perfect response from Gibbs-White to his England omission after he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers.
Hutchinson then won a late penalty after Leeds substitute Jack Harrison brought him down, and Anderson hammered in from the spot in the 91st minute to seal an important victory for Forest.
Dyche backs Gibbs-White to regain England spot
Nottingham Forest head coach Sean Dyche speaking at his post-match press conference on Gibbs-White:
“He did well to get in it [the England squad]. People forget that. People say, ‘Oh well, he must be really disappointed’, but he got in it.
“So it doesn’t mean he can’t get in it again.
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Morgan Gibbs-White heads in to put Forest ahead
“Getting himself back to the basics of what he does, that energy, I call it infectious – the on-pitch presence and being infectious around the group and then going and relaxing and scoring goals.
“He’s had unfair question marks, and fairly or unfairly is irrelevant. We all know what makes a story.
“So therefore, the story is out there. I said to him, ‘Don’t worry about what’s gone, just keep working and enjoy what we’re doing’.
“Three in five is a pretty decent marker. He missed a penalty the other night [against Sturm Graz in the Europa League]. If he scores that it’s four in five, and all of a sudden everyone’s talking about him.
“But he’s a good player. I want him to get in the air. I want him to go to score goals. I want him to enjoy what he’s doing.”
Farke: We’re not panicking
Leeds boss Daniel Farke speaking at his post-match press conference:
“I judge our season so far, we have 11 games, we have 11 points. It’s a point average that we need to stay in this league.
“We were not on one game-day under the line, so never in the relegation zone. This is also good… could have been better if we would have won a few more points.
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Lukas Nmecha fires Leeds ahead
“In my dream version, we are never in danger. We cruise easily, always with several points ahead.
“Yes, right now, it’s all a bit tighter, but it’s nothing. We are not panicking, anyhow.
“What the outside world is thinking or wants to think, we can’t influence that much.
“We are quite calm. We know what we have to do better.”
Analysis: Substitutions prove to be difference
Dyche’s first league win in charge of Forest had plenty to do with his management.
His 59th-minute triple change really turned the game in his side’s favour – Hutchinson replaced the ineffective Nicolas Dominguez to set up two goals, Ryan Yates added bite back into the midfield with Sangare limited due to a yellow card, and Taiwo Awoniyi proved more of a handful for the Leeds defence than Igor Jesus.
Dyche has plenty of quality at his disposal, and his use of it in a hugely important game will encourage the City Ground faithful that they can start moving upwards.
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Elliot Anderson scores a late penalty to seal Forest’s win
But his opposite number on Sunday, Farke, did not get the same impact with his substitutions. In fact, they worked against him.
Harrison, who came on in the 82nd minute, gave away the penalty that sealed a fourth defeat in five league games.
Substitute Dominic Calvert-Lewin missed a couple of decent chances too – he has now scored just twice in his last 32 appearances in all competitions.
Away form and scoring on the road are real issues for Leeds, who have won just three of their last 25 away Premier League games.
Sunday’s result at the City Ground felt like a change in momentum for both clubs, with Dyche getting lift-off in the league while Leeds continue to head in the wrong direction.
Opta facts: Farke suffers first turnaround league defeat at Leeds
- Leeds lost a league match under Daniel Farke when scoring the first goal for the very first time – they had been unbeaten in 53 league games under the German before today when going 1-0 up.
- Four of Morgan Gibbs-White’s last five Premier League goals have come via headers – only Brentford’s Kevin Schade (5) has more headed goals in the competition this calendar year.
- Leeds have now lost four of their last five Premier League matches against teams on a run of nine or more winless Premier League games – they lost 1-0 to Fulham in April 2002 (9 winless), 1-0 to Brighton in January 2021 (9 winless) and 1-0 to Southampton in October 2021 (9 winless). Their only win in this run was against Daniel Farke’s Norwich in October 2021 (won 2-1).
- Leeds United goalkeepers have only saved one of the last 33 Premier League penalties they have faced, with Illan Meslier saving from Jesse Lingard in March 2021 against West Ham.
- Leeds faced eight shots in the opening 20 minutes of today’s game, their most in the first 20 minutes of a league game since December 2021 against Man City (9), a game they lost 7-0.
