A dramatic finish at the City Ground. Both teams had chances to win it late on, but neither Wood or Antenucci could find a winner for Leeds, despite being afforded generous openings by a lean Forest defence. The result leaves both teams in with a shout of making the play-offs come the new year, but both will need to be more clinical if they are to close the gap on the top six. Thanks for reading, emailing and tweeting. Bye!
Full time: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leeds United
Byram scored a late leveller for Leeds, after Oliveira had opened the scoring for Forest, who had won their last four matches at the City Ground. Forest are now unbeaten in six and Leeds take on Derby on Tuesday, on the back of a four-game unbeaten streak.
90+4 min: Leeds have a free-kick on the edge of the box, left hand side. Murphy will take.
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Three minutes added time here at the City Ground. Leeds have a corner.
90 min: Forest hit the post! What a beautiful strike that would have been! The ball falls out wide to the teenager Burke after Ward’s shot was blocked well by Cooper. He then shoots from an acute angle and his effort rattles the post. Leeds have recovered and have a free-kick in the opposition half.
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89 min: Burke does well again to break forward, before finding Ward, whose curling effort sails wide of goal.
88 min: The pendulum is swinging both ways. First, Doukara finds Antenucci before Burke has a shot on goal for Forest.
86 min: Ward looks to counter after more heavy Leeds pressure. Home fans believe Ward was fouled but the referee waves play on. Seconds later, another great chance for Leeds, as Wood fails to make decent contact with a cross from Antenucci. You sense another goal, here.
85 min: Antenucci spurns a great chance after Wootton crosses from a fine Murphy pass. The Italian slices the ball wide from inside the box. The substitute really should have done better. Leeds are well on top now.
83 min: Oliver Burke, an 18-year-old, comes on for the final ten minutes or so, replacing Vaughan.
82 min: Murphy is again in space down the right flank but his pass runs out of touch. That goal was Byram’s third goal in the last three matches. He was allowed to shoot, after great interplay between Doukara and Taylor.
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81 min: Osborn picks up a booking and the momentum swings back into the favour of the visitors.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Leeds United (Byram, 80)
Taylor finds Doukara who passes to Byram who lets rip from the edge of the box. De Vries had no chance. Game on!
80 min: Ward has made a big difference for Forest here. He drives forward again but picks out an offside Oliveira. Leeds back on the attack now.
77 min: Mirko Antenucci comes on to replace Dallas. The PA announces 27,551 fans are packed into the City Ground - the biggest attendance for almost 15 months.
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75 min: Leeds are pinned back again by a driving run from Jamie Ward. Ward strikes from outside the box, stinging the fingertips of Silvestri in the process.
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72 min: Bellusci appears to have another moment of madness and trips Oliveira in the box, but the referee is unmoved. Then, Vaughan is penalised despite clearly winning the ball from Taylor. Of course, he is not best pleased about it. Forest are a little unfortunate here.
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70 min: Ward tries to play in Lansbury, and is very close to finding him with a weighted through ball. Bellusci and Lansbury then engage in some handbags and are duly awarded a yellow card each for their troubles. We resume action.
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68 min: Robert Tesche replaces O’Grady. Tesche has been out injured since August.
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67 min: David Vaughan has been absolutely relentless in the middle of the park. Forest break again on the counter but Oliveira is held out wide.
65 min: Leeds are struggling to stamp their authority on the game, as Forest take back hold of possession. Meanwhile, Alan Smith is pictured in the crowd with a terrible moustache.
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60 min: Substitution for Forest as Jamie Ward replaces Ryan Mendes. Leeds bring Souleymane Doukara on for Lewis Cook, who will provide Wood with a bit of help up front for the visitors. Doukara and Wood both certainly possess a presence.
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58 min: Chance for Forest to double their lead but it’s cleared off the line! Lansbury’s corner is met by Chris O’Grady, whose effort is hooked away from danger by Leeds midfielder Luke Murphy.
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54 min: Chris Wood is played in over the top but is wasteful and skies the ball high into the City Ground terraces. Leeds have had plenty of possession but little to show for it, tweets Alex Kraushaar. That man is not wrong, either. Leeds have just pumped another ball into the box but nothing comes of it.
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53 min: Dallas swings in a corner but Byram’s header angles away from goal.
51 min: Forest put the visitors under pressure but Vaughan finds Row Z and that attack is soon over. Leeds back in the ascendency and have a corner.
49 min: Wootton drives forward. The Leeds number four had four stitches put in at the break. Cook finds Taylor who crosses for Wood, but he’s penalised for using his arm to control the ball. The striker has just one goal in his last six matches, but he’s scored seven so far this campaign.
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47 min: Oliveira goes for power and blasts the ball over the bar.
46 min: Forest start the second period in some style. Oliveira is dancing on the edge of the box before eventually being fouled. Free-kick in a dangerous area.
We’re underway for the second-half. Forest have not lost any of their last 14 games after going in front. Everything is in place then for Freedman’s side to move into the top half of the Championship. Leeds’ defender Wootton runs out covered in bandages as a result of his clash of heads before the break.
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Best of friends. Leeds team-mates Silvestri and Bellusci made a real mess of that Oliveira goal. The two Italians were still bickering after the half-time whistle blew, in disagreement as they headed for the tunnel. The second-half will be underway shortly.
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Half-time: Nottingham Forest 1-0 Leeds United
Leeds may wonder what exactly they need to do to infringe the Forest back line, having dominated possession. Only a point separates the two sides and it is showing. Forest striker Nélson Oliveira pounced on a costly Leeds error, though, and to make matters worse a couple of their defenders are receiving treatment at the break.
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45 min: There is to be one minute of added time.
43 min: Approaching half time, we have still just had the one shot on target, which saw Forest take the lead. Leeds have had plenty of the ball but are yet to do anything of note with it.
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41 min: O’Grady heads the resulting corner just wide. Evans is trying to encourage his players forward. It’s a sell-out crowd at the City Ground. There is something special about football over the festive period.
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39 min: Oliveira wins a corner after more good work from Vaughan and Ben Osborn.
38 min: Taylor is panting for breath after another charging run down the left. Vaughan gets hold of the ball and is starting to grow into this game. Forest now have a free-kick 25 yards out. Lansbury to take.
34 min: Leeds play a short corner but it’s intercepted. Forest then go surging forward on the counter. End to end stuff, quite literally.
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33 min: Forest are getting a bit tetchy. David Vaughan has just fouled Bridcutt, before sliding in on Dallas for a Leeds corner.
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32 min: Taylor, who is finding plenty of space down the left, tees up Chris Wood, but he heads wide.
31 min: Leeds fans are in good voice but have little to shout about after a good start. They seem to be winning the midfield battle, though.
27 min: Forest have half a chance. Oliveira, whose tail is most certainly up, shoots from outside the box but does not test Silvestri.
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Ezra Finkelstein has got in touch all the way from Israel. He says: “My good friend Nadav used to tell me jawdropping stories of the glory days of Billy Bremner and Eric Cantona. Come on Leeds!” Will the glory days return under Steve Evans?
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22 min: Taylor gallops down the left flank but puts too much on his cross. Meanwhile, Higginbotham is livid at Leeds’ defending for that opening goal.
19 min: Byram gets up to head at goal but Mancienne sees the ball clear.
18 min: Leeds look a little shellshocked after that. Leeds played a high line and Oliveira was always going to score once Silvestri rushed out. That’s Oliveira’s sixth goal of the season.
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GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Leeds United (Oliveira, 17 min)
Oliveira is played in from one long ball up field by centre-back Mills. Silvestri comes out into no mans land and completely misses the ball. Oliveira tucks home.
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15 min: Forest have been buoyed by that penalty claim. The referee rightly booked Byram and waved play on.
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14 min: Booking! Sam Byram is booked for simulation, after going down under the challenge of Matt Mills, only Mills does not actually contact the player at all.
11 min: Mendes had threatened to get forward but Leeds full-back Charlie Taylor snuffed that out. No problem. Co-commentator Danny Higginbotham says he’s one of the Championship’s best.
10 min: Chris Wood is given a free header but his effort is of no real danger. Forest are now back on the attack, after Evans gave them their ball back.
10 min: Forest are struggling to get a grip on the game. Lansbury gifts the ball to Dallas, and Leeds now have a corner.
8 min: Osborn does well to carve some space and win a corner from the throw. The referee, James Linington, blows the whistle for a foul in the box.
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7 min: Leeds win a foul inside their own half. They look to move the ball towards Wood but lose possession. Forest have a throw.
5 min: Nottingham Forest get down the right flank, the first time they have got into the opposition half. Leeds have started confidently.
3 min: Steve Evans is stood awkwardly against the dugout. De Vries rolls the ball out, calmly.
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2 min: Dallas shoots from outside the box, it has Dorus de Vries diving to his right.
1 min: Leeds take hold of things early on, Bridcutt taking control of proceedings.
Crikey, we’re off, and to some atmosphere. City Ground, to the tune of Mull of Kintyre, duly is bellowed out by the home supporters.
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The teams are on the pitch. But I can’t hear City Ground favourite Mull of Kintyre, sadly. Kick-off is imminent.
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Warm-ups done. Both sets of players have headed back into the tunnel. In his pre-match interview, Dougie Freedman confirms Mancienne will play left-back. “It’s going to be a fantastic game,” the former Leeds and Forest striker goes on to warn us.
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We are not too far away from kick-off. Less than 15 minutes to go now. We are just being treated to a montage of Rob Earnshaw’s forward somersault. “I am still doing it out there,” the former Wales man insists.
Ian Harte has weighed in with some pre-match natter. He made 199 appearances for Leeds, Leeds, Leeds!
Big game for @LUFC today I hope they can get 3pts #MOT
— Ian Harte (@ianharte23) December 27, 2015
Swagger. But, Dexter Blackstock will start on the bench once more. Could be worse, though, defender Danny Fox is not named in Dougie Freedman’s squad. Will it be Michael Mancienne or Eric Lichaj at left-back? All the big questions, right here.
The #NFFC players have arrived at The City Ground ahead of today's game (kick-off 4.30pm). pic.twitter.com/rQKaTKGvYV
— Nottingham Forest FC (@Official_NFFC) December 27, 2015
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Stay Another Day. Liam Bridcutt has lost just one of the five matches he has played since arriving on loan from Sunderland. Integral.
Leeds boss Steve Evans has been speaking pre-match. Evans has named an unchanged side from their 1-0 win over Preston. Of talking with Massimo Cellino over January targets, he says: “ I don’t sit down to the president, I bow to him.” As you were.
The teams!
Nottingham Forest: De Vries, Lichaj, Mills, Hobbs, Mancienne, Lansbury, Vaughan, Mendes, Osborn, Oliveira, O’Grady. Subs: Evtimov, Tesche, Ward, O Burke, Trotter, Blackstock, C Burke.
Leeds United: Silvestri, Wootton, Bellusci, Cooper, Taylor, Byram, Cook, Bridcutt, Murphy, Dallas, Wood. Subs: Peacock-Farrell, Coyle, Bamba, Adeyemi, Sloth, Doukara, Antenucci.
Referee: James Linington (Wales)
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Preamble
Hello. With Christmas spirit well and truly dwindling by now, what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than by purring over two of the Championship’s mid-table sides? They are two biggies, though. This match will not only cure Christmas hangovers but provide the answer for any of you folk already in search of more action, after yet another bonkers weekend of football. Matches between the former European Cup winners, Nottingham Forest, against Leeds United scream the late 90s, goals from Jimmy Floyd-Hasselbaink, Ian Harte piledrivers and, well, just look at now Notts County midfielder Alan Smith trying to establish himself as a striker. Ah, those were the days. There are shades of David Peace’s The Damned United in this fixture, too, given Brian Clough’s contrasting success at each club.
The last meeting was an endearing stalemate in March earlier this year, but before that, goodness gracious me, there were some crackers. Just four years ago these two played out a ten-goal thriller at Elland Road, with Leeds on the receiving end of a 7-3 spanking. Garath McCleary helped himself not to a hat-trick but four goals for Forest while Mikael Forssell remained unmoved on the home bench. Later that year, Forest put four more past a sorry looking El Hadji Diouf and his Leeds team-mates.
Today, unlike Diouf’s gold Cadillacs and chrome McLaren’s, neither side is exactly glistening. Forest are under a transfer embargo after breaching FFP rules and Leeds, although in blistering winter form, are hardly where they would like to be, although they are one point in front of today’s hosts. The Forest manager, Dougie Freedman, who has played in this fixture as a player, has not had chance to celebrate a victory on the road since September but a fifth consecutive home win would lift them into the top half.
Henri Lansbury and Jamie Ward boast the je ne sais quoi needed to win games like this, while Dexter Blackstock, who has been around this division forever, always seems good value off the bench. Steve Evans’ side will put up a fight though, and you suspect on loan midfielder Liam Bridcutt and the much talked of local lad Sam Byram will play key roles in preventing Forest potentially running riot, again.
Kick-off: 4.30pm GMT
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