Southampton (A) 24/08/24

Southampton 0-1 Nottingham Forest

                                             Gibbs-White 70'

Our first away game of the season was a trip to Southampton. The only away fixture we managed to win in our first Premier League season back after 23 years, winning 1-0 on a cold January night. It felt different this time. A more established Forest side, with aims to climb the table, battling a newly promoted Saints side hoping to survive relegation. Last time it felt like a huge 3 pointer, but this time the Reds were tipped to win the game.

Forest had completed the double over Southampton, winning 4-3 at home during the 2022/23 season, and in previous meetings, the Reds had come out on top with 53 victories comparing to the Saints’ 39. With history on our side, could we make it 3 away wins on then bounce?

The Reds dominated the first half, breaking the hosts defence down. This showed when Ola Aina skipped past the Saints’ defence and got in behind their back line, down the left. He saw Chris Wood unmarked at the back post and lifted a ball in for him. The New Zealand international could only manage a header straight at Alex McCarthy. Forest were confident having a go from all distances. Ibrahim Sangare found himself in space around 40 yards out from goal and decided to shoot with the Saints’ goalkeeper having to tip it behind for a corner.

Premier League debutant, Nikola Milenkovic should have put Forest ahead just after the 30 minute mark. A Forest corner was headed away but only as far as Neco Williams who tried an attempt on goal from the edge of the ‘d’. His shot hit Murillo and landed at the feet of Wood who flashed a cross in from a tight angle. Milenkovic would’ve expected to find the back of the net from just 5 yards out, but the ball hit his shin and went behind for a goal kick. The hosts first, and only, shot on target of the game came in the 38^th minute. Kyle Walker-Peters received the ball down the left-hand side before cutting in, trying to create a good enough angle to shoot from. His shot was poor though, hitting it straight at Matz Sels.

Saint’s half-time team talk must have worked as they came out pushing for the lead. They had 81% possession in the opening 15 minutes of the second half but couldn’t really put any pressure on Forest’s defence. Despite dominating possession, Saints struggled with a lack of creativity in the final third and Sels was never particularly troubled. Forest capitalised and took the lead. Following a great run from Elanga, the Reds found themselves with a corner, which was cleared to Williams on the edge of the box. His shot was blocked and Joe Aribo looked to get the hosts on the counter attack. Williams put in a tackle to win the ball back which Callum Hudson-Odoi whipped back in towards the far post. Morgan Gibbs-White’s header was cleared by Yukinari Sugawara before it could cross the line, but his clearance fell back to the Forest captain who fired home from close range. If Sugawara had left it for his goalkeeper to collect, maybe the goal could’ve been avoided.

As the game drew to a close, Forest looked to find a second goal to seal the victory. Elanga drove forward with the ball before shooting from a tight angle. McCarthy pulled off the save, however Wood was clearly annoyed the ball wasn’t pulled across for him to tap in. Hudson-Odoi had a go himself from his usual angle and distance after driving forward. The Saints’ ‘keeper managed to parry the ball away to stop him opening his goal account for the season.  Southampton came close to an equalizer at the end as Forest grew a bit nervy and frantic. Charlie Taylor fired in a low cross but Cameron Archer just couldn’t get the final touch to put it past Sels. Forest had held on to keep the clean sheet and were taking all 3 points back to Nottingham.

I think we completely deserved 3 points and anything less would’ve been disappointing. Despite not having the majority of possession we were dominant, especially the first half. The only thing I can pick out is our play in the final third. We’ve played good attacking football during the first 2 league games and had 8 shots on target, equal to last week which ended up being the most attempts on target of the Premier League in matchweek 1. However, we haven’t been able to convert more chances or find the final pass. Against a team higher up the table, if we don’t improve, it will come back to bite us. A personal standout for me was Elliot Anderson who had an excellent work rate and was always trying to win the ball back and looked to pass progressively to get us up the pitch. Milenkovic also had a strong game at centre back. After 10 games in our first season back in the top flight, we had 4 points, so to have that after 2 games this time out is a significant improvement. Next to Wolves at the City Ground!

Forest: Sels; Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Anderson (Dominguez 75'), Sangare (Yates 66'); Elanga, Gibbs-White (Jota Silva 90+2'), Hudson-Odoi (Boly 90+2'); Wood (Awoniyi 75')

Southampton: McCarthy; Stephans, Bednarek, Harwood-Bellis (Fernandes 76'); Walker-Peters, Aribo (Taylor 76'), Downes, Smallbone (Dibling 84'), Sugawara (Archer 71'); Brereton Diaz, Armstrong (Edozie 71')