Considering we've scored the joint-most from set-pieces this season, they've been really lame in this match.
Jesus, how the hell have you not scored there???!!! I can't believe he hit the post from such close range, that's an unbelievable miss.
Jesus! 1-0! How the hell did he score from that angle? Turner must have made a mistake because there's no way that should have gone in .
Yeah, just seen the replay and it goes through Turner's legs. Good finish from Jesus, but shouldn't have gone in.
2-0! Saka! Great from Havertz to pick up the turnover, plays it into Odegaard, who slides it into Jesus. Jesus squares it to Saka and Saka slams it home with his right foot. Good goal. Deserved, too. Let's see this out now.
As frustrating as Jesus has been tonight, he's scored and got an assist. I can't fault his perseverance .
Ooof. Lovely feet and skill from Trossard, who cuts inside and unleashes a venomous shot, but just flies over. Unfortunate.
2-1. Awoniyi. What a stupid, stupid goal to concede. Saliba got nudged out the way far too easily there. Nervy ending now.
FT. 2-1. Good away win at a very tricky ground. Frustrating we didn't get a clean sheet, as I felt we deserved one, but our CBs had a lapse in concentration and it was a nervier ending than was warranted. Wasn't a vintage performance, but I thought we played pretty well overall. The scoreline flatters Forest as we were comfortably the better side and had the best chances. I'll be stunned if Murillo is still a Forest player by the Summer, he can easily play for a bigger side. Awoniyi always seems to cause us problems and score against us too lol. Ah well, none of it matters now. Back-to-back wins going into Liverpool was critical and I'm glad we did it.
It's getting bit like 2005-2008 these days - Every team is just setting up with a low block against us. Good result though - also very good that Jesus and Saka scored. We need both to hit some good form for the run in..
If teams are going to sit deep against us and rely on counter attacks, then the responsibility is on us to break the opposition down. Forest opened up more in the second half when Awoniyi came on (probably because he has more pace and power than Wood). But had they defended like they did in the first half with Wood on the pitch, leaving no space in the 18-yard box etc, I'm not so sure we would have gotten the win. I realise our style of play this season is more about patient build-up play and controlling/dominating the ball, but I think sometimes we are trying to be too intricate when we need to be more penetrative. We sustain pressure and have lots of touches in the box without creating enough clear cut openings given how much of the ball we have. I'd like to see us play with a bit more verticality and move the ball with more speed, rather than taking extra touches. We also need more variety in our attack and that includes personnel. Nketiah and Jesus are too similar in terms of their profiles. If we had a target man/traditional no.9 up top, this gives us an extra dimension to our play and gives teams a different problem to think about. That's why I think Havertz would have been better playing up front when he came on, rather than Nketiah (who was ineffective).
Well I also think something that's hurting us is that.. last Season Odegaard was able to play as a No.10 because Xhaka would defend well from a high position and Partey would sit as the DM. Havertz, Smith Rowe, Viera - etc.. don't offer the same qualities and so were playing more of a straight 4-3-3 with Odegaard sitting deeper to help with defensive duties. My hope was that Partey coming back would enable Rice to take Xhakas old role and allow Odegaard to push a little further forward. This will help tremendously when dealing with a low block.
By the way, it's gone under the radar, but Saka has 10 goals and 13 assists across all competitions this season. Considering he's come under a lot of criticism recently for 'hiding in games' (which is a narrative I never bought into), the facts are he is making game-defining contributions when it matters. It's even more impressive when you factor in how much we've struggled to get the attack clicking for most of the season. He is the one consistent player who can produce the goods no matter what.
