Liverpool snatched victory at Nottingham Forest as Alexis Mac Allister scored a 97th-minute winner amid late drama at the City Ground.
Mac Allister had appeared to have given his side an undeserved 1-0 win in the 89th minute only for his goal to be ruled out for handball but there was no reprieve for Forest in stoppage time when the Argentina international crashed in from close range.
Jamie Carragher called the victory “one of the biggest robberies” of the Premier League season after what he called a first-half “horror show” in which Liverpool were totally outplayed, struggling to adapt to the loss of Florian Wirtz to injury before kick-off.
Vitor Pereira, who was taking charge of Forest for the first time in the Premier League, saw his side have 12 of the 14 shots in the first half and they should have scored from the first of them when Callum Hudson-Odoi was clean through but Alisson saved.
The game petered out after the interval until igniting late on. Hugo Ekitike should have beaten Stefan Ortega but Mac Allister seemed to have finished it anyway, Ola Aina’s clearance ricocheting in off him. Replays seemed to suggest it came off his elbow.
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Alex Mac Allister slams home a dramatic late winner for Liverpool at Nottingham Forest
But Liverpool were not to be denied, Mac Allister seizing on another loose ball – with VAR not coming to Forest’s rescue this time. Pereira’s side stay two points clear of the drop zone. Liverpool move level on points with Chelsea and Manchester United.
How the drama unfolded
Pereira was aiming to become the first Nottingham Forest manager not to lose their first Premier League game in charge since Dave Bassett in 1997 and he went with the same line-up that won well away to Fenerbahce on Thursday. There was no lack of sharpness.
Indeed, it was Slot’s side who struggled to deal with the pace of the game. “Liverpool have been monstered physically,” said Carragher. “This team cannot cope when it’s end-to-end in the Premier League.” Ibrahim Sangare dominated the game in midfield.
Ola Aina’s clearance hits Mac Allister and rebounds into the net only to be disallowed
Slot could point to the upheaval that forced Curtis Jones to come in as a No 10 until the experiment was curtailed after just half an hour when he switched positions with Dominik Szoboszlai. But it was still an alarmingly sluggish performance by Liverpool.
A crucial three points, however, and a weekend in which they gain ground on all their rivals. Liverpool are now six points behind Aston Villa in third. For Forest, they remain perilously close to the drop. But with hope that if they play like this, they will be safe.
Slot: Forest deserved a draw
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot speaking to Sky Sports:
“If you score in the last minute, there’s always an element of luck. But so many times this season, we’ve experienced the opposite. I don’t mean conceding in the last minute – that’s happened as well – but it’s about us deserving more than what we got.
“A draw would have been a fairer result than a win for us.
“In the first half, we lost every ball. We could not keep the ball for one second. If we went long, we lost the duel. We lost a lot of second balls. The only part of the game that went well was defending inside the box. I saw players throwing themselves for long balls, had to defend set pieces. That’s what we did well and stayed in the game.
“The second half I saw something slightly different. We took over the game, maybe because they played on Thursday? For the first time this season, that was an advantage for us – that the team we faced played and we were off this week.
“With the way things are going this season, I would not have been surprised at all if both goals had been disallowed. But maybe fortune has changed – finally.”
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Alexis Mac Allister’s fortunate finish was ruled out for handball by VAR.
Mac Allister: Mixed feelings after win
Liverpool match-winner Alexis Mac Allister speaking to Sky Sports:
“Mixed feelings, to be honest. Love scoring, love winning. In that sense it’s a really good day. But I don’t think we played very well. There are things we need to improve, but it’s always nicer when we win.”
On if the disallowed goal hit his elbow: “It did, but it’s harsh. Because it hit my back as well. I understand the rules but it’s football, it’s very harsh.”
Pereira: One point wasn’t enough but zero?!
Nottingham Forest head coach Vitor Pereira speaking to Sky Sports:
“It’s football. We played the first half in a fantastic way, creating problems. And we deserved to score two or three goals, we had two or three big chances to score.
“But of course, we played three days ago against a team without a game in the middle of the week. Our capacity to press them was not the same.
“And in the end, we concede. It’s football. We need to accept it, difficult to accept the frustration. But the supporters were fantastic. The next day and game, we will be stronger.
“One point was not enough. Zero? We don’t deserve this. If they play the way they played in the first half, we can get a lot of points until the end.”
