Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds United is how the Premier League season begins for the Whites, and it took a moment of Anton Stach brilliance to get it. With a couple of minutes of normal time remaining at the City Ground, the Germany midfielder curled a right-footed free-kick past Matz Sels at his near post to settle an opening day Daniel Farke’s side had controlled without quite breaking through.
Leeds were the more imposing team, rationing the hosts to moments. Harry Wilson had a debut goal disallowed for offside in the first half after latching on to Jayden Bogle’s pushed pass, and Sels needed a strong left hand to keep out a header after the break, as the Guardian’s report from the City Ground details. Wilson was one of three competitive debutants named in our matchday team news, alongside James Trafford and Tarik Muharemović. For Oliver Glasner, Forest’s fifth head coach in under 12 months, it was a flat first afternoon in charge.
Farke on the Nottingham Forest 0-1 Leeds United matchwinner
“I expected when he was over the free-kick that he could do something special,” Farke said of Stach, who scored three direct free-kicks in the Premier League last season – a tally bettered only by Dominik Szoboszlai. “He has done it time and time again. He surprised me last season, but now I trust him with everything.” The Leeds manager, noting that Stach had launched a charity burger in the city days earlier, added: “He’s a bit of a weird and crazy guy.”
The two sides do it all again on Tuesday, when Leeds return to the City Ground for an EFL Cup rematch. Three points on the road, a clean sheet and a matchwinner already in the groove: the Whites will take that.
