Patrick Schmidt’s stoppage-time winner kept Barnsley in the Championship as they beat Nottingham Forest to ensure both teams have something to play for in the final round of games.
Heading into stoppage time with the game goalless, Barnsley were set to drop into League One until Schmidt scrambled the ball home in the 94th minute. The Tykes are now off the bottom, but will still need to beat Brentford on Wednesday and hope other results go their way.
Forest are without a victory in five games and need a point at home to Stoke in their last game to make sure of a play-off place – although their superior goal difference means they are unlikely to miss out.
Barnsley were dominant from the start in a game they needed to win and both Alex Mowatt and Luke Thomas went close in the opening minutes, setting the pattern to the afternoon’s proceedings, Thomas later clipping the crossbar on the half-hour mark.
Forest’s first chance fell to Lewis Grabban who dragged his shot wide, before Jordan Smith in the Forest goal made a comfortable save to keep out Marcel Ritzmaier’s long-range effort.
Conor Chaplin then looked to capitalise on a mix-up in the Forest defence, but he fired wide from a tight angle. Barnsley’s Callum Styles beat a couple of players before firing in a shot from the edge of the area which went wide of Smith’s right-hand post.
Forest had a chance to force the breakthrough goal in the latter stages of the half when Tiago Silva’s low cross was met by Nuno Da Costa who flicked the ball goalwards, but the goalkeeper Jack Walton managed to get down smartly and keep it out.
Jacob Brown was put through by Chaplin just before the interval, but he struggled to get the ball under control and that allowed Smith to clear the danger.
Barnsley’s head coach, Gerhard Struber, sent on the 15-goal striker Cauley Woodrow in place of Kilian Ludewig at the start of the second half, and the substitute was soon involved in the action, firing in a shot which was deflected wide.
Forest’s manager, Sabri Lamouchi, made a double substitution 10 minutes after the restart, sending on Sammy Ameobi and Ryan Yates but it was Barnsley again who went close when Ritzmaier’s deflected long-range effort struck a post before Jordan Williams tried his luck from distance, with the ball clearing the bar.
They threatened again when an effort from the substitute Matty Wolfe was cleared off the line by Joe Worrall. With less than 10 minutes remaining, Schmidt replaced Ritzmaier. The home side threw men forward in the closing stages and Schmidt snatched the winner deep into stoppage time to keep hope alive.
