That’s me done. Thanks for readings and for your emails and tweets. Until next time!
Ben Fisher's match report
An email from Colin Wood: “A stupefyingly awful decision to disallow Burnley’s second ‘goal’. In a season already bedevilled by a series of monumentally inept VAR interventions, this surely ranks amongst the worst.”
Vincent Kompany speaks!
On Foster’s red:
It’s a moment of inexperience. Something we can’t really excuse but at the same time he’s played his heart out for the team. We also need to be there for him.
Kompany tries to duck the questions about the disallowed goal.
This is not for me to talk about. I can’t do anything about it now. I don’t really feel anger. I don’t really feel anything.
On Koleosho:
Luca is fearless. His end product will come. He’s 19, he’s got another five years of development. He runs for three people. I need to get him to run smarter.
Both pundits in the Sky studio (Jamie Carragher, Brentford manager Thomas Frank) agree that disallowing Foster’s goal for Berge’s handball was harsh at best.
This.
However it’s applied VAR just takes away the best thing about football. Those few seconds of sheer elation when your team has scored. Chasing that is reason all the miles travelled, money spent and bad times make any sense. If you have to double check yourself what is left?
— Seb White (@sebdwhite) September 18, 2023
I’d rather watch and love a sport that is cares more about fun than being forensically correct. There is nothing wrong with human error. It’s a game, for goodness sake, not a science. Let the people celebrate properly.
Nottingham Forest are into the top half with that draw, up to eighth. Burnley, meanwhile, have their first point of the season. On this showing, the Lancashire club have enough quality and vigour to stay up. Red cards and disallowed goals won’t help, though.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 5 | 11 | 15 |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 3 | Liverpool | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 5 | 5 | 13 |
| 5 | Brighton | 5 | 8 | 12 |
| 6 | West Ham | 5 | 3 | 10 |
| 7 | Aston Villa | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 8 | Nottm Forest | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| 9 | Crystal Palace | 5 | -1 | 7 |
| 10 | Fulham | 5 | -5 | 7 |
| 11 | Brentford | 5 | 2 | 6 |
| 12 | Newcastle | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 5 | -4 | 6 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 16 | Wolverhampton | 5 | -6 | 3 |
| 17 | Sheff Utd | 5 | -4 | 1 |
| 18 | Everton | 5 | -7 | 1 |
| 19 | Burnley | 4 | -8 | 1 |
| 20 | Luton | 4 | -8 | 0 |
Full-time: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Burnley
Burnley will feel slightly aggrieved at having Foster’s goal ruled out.
Updated
90+8 min: Cullen picks up a booking for a cynical foul. A good foul, as far as Burnley are concerned.
90+6 min: The game has got scrappy, but that will suit Burnley just fine. Brownhill, save for this set-piece delivery, has been excellent in midfield with Cullen for the visitors.
90+5 min: Roberts was also given a yellow card for dissent after all that.
90+4 min: Foster straight off down the tunnel. Kompany is too busy rearranging his formation to give him a glare, but Foster’s rueful face says it all. He knows what he did. We’ll surely have more than seven added minutes now.
RED CARD! Lyle Foster is sent off. Burnley down to 10!
What a silly, petulant thing to do. There was a big of handbags before Foster gave Yates a sharp elbow to the solar plexus. He’s off! Burnley must survive the last few minutes here, and be without their main striker for the next three games!
Updated
90+2 min: A stoppage in play as VAR check for an off-the-ball incident. It looks like Foster has elbowed the chest of Yates! That can surely only mean one thing, a red card!
Updated
90 min: Sangare loses the ball inside his own box but McKenna is there to bail him out. The Ivorian has not really been at the races today. Cooper will want more from his record signing in the future.
Seven minutes added on. That’s to account for the injuries, subs and VAR deliberation.
88 min: Cramp comes for Beyer as Burnley scramble to get a replacement on before another Forest set piece. Delcroix finally makes it onto the pitch.
Forest also make a change: Chris Wood on for Awoniyi.
86 min: Berge has been excellent since coming on, operating as a sort of unorthadox right wing. He’s so big, that it’s almost impossible to get the ball off him as he drives to the byline.
A third of the 24 goal scored this weekend have been scored after the 85-minute mark. We may still get a winner.
84 min: Forest are not playing with the same swagger, but are lumping plenty of set pieces into Burnley’s box. The away side have, so far, repelled the aerial threats.
82 min: Burnley sweep forward in a move full of poise and class, but there is nobody on the end of Zaroury’s cross.
GOAL DISALLOWED! The score remains: Nottingham Forest 1-1 Burnley
The VAR deems it to be a deliberate handball. Berge certainly didn’t mean to handle it, in my opinion, but it certainly kissed the forearm of the big Norwegian. That is a proper let off for Forest, and for McKenna in particular who took neither man nor ball and let Berge pass.
Updated
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-2 Burnley (Foster 77)
Berge beats McKenna to the ball, gets clear of the Forest defence and cuts the ball back to Foster to tap into an empty net. But VAR are going to check this for a handball. It looks like the ball might have glanced Berge’s arm as he ran past McKenna …
Updated
76 min: Koleosho comes off! He is replaced by Tresor, who makes his Burnley debut.
Updated
75 min: Aina has been magnificent for Forest since switching to right back, so much so that Koleosho has now switched to the right wing.
73 min: The game is there for the taking for both sides. Forest have certainly been the stronger in the last 20 but both side carry a fresh threat with those subs.
70 min: Forest make changes: Hudson-Odoi and Mangala off for Origi and Yaes.
I should have told you about some Burnley changes a few minutes ago: Berge and Zaroury on for Gudmundsson and Amdouni.
67 min: “What a well taken goal by Hudson-Odoi,” emails Kári Tulinius. “A penny for the thoughts of Pochettino. He could use someone with his shooting ability.”
It does seem an absolutely mad fee to sell Hudson-Odoi for. He’s not been in great form, sure, but he’s 22! We all know how talented the boy is.
65 min: Forest are cooking on gas now. Hudson-Odoi cuts in from the left, slips a pass through to Gibbs-White, who finds a pocket of space inside the box, smashes his shot goalwards. It hits Cullen on the arm, but there’s no way that should be a penalty. Not given, rightfully so.
63 min: VAR checks for both offside and handball against Awoniyi in the build-up, but the goal stands! There’s no doubt that losing Brennan Johnson was a blow, even for £47m, but not bad business replacing him with Hudson-Odoi for £5m.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Burnley (Hudson-Odoi 61)
WHAT. A. GOAL. Hudson-Odoi picks the ball up on the edge, and curls the most beautiful shot in off the far post! Right in the top corner, postage-stamp stuff. Wow.
Updated
59 min: Aina 1-0 Koleosho. The Forest man wins his first duel against the Burnley winger, tackling cleanly before winning a free kick for the home side.
57 min: Better from Forest, who are applying pressure without creating clear-cut chances. Cullen is doing an excellent job of firefighting around Burnley’s box, snarling and blocking and tackling his side out of trouble.
55 min: Chance for Mangala! From a Forest corner, the ball falls to the Belgian but he can’t fetch it from under his feet and the shot is scooped over.
53 min: Montiel is hooked! That’s a sensible call from Steve Cooper. Aina will to go right back, Tavares comes on at left back. Montiel gets a decent reception as he jogs back to the bench but the Argentinian was run ragged by Koleosho. Let’s see if Aina can do any better.
50 min: Koleosho continues to embarrass Montiel, who is surely close to being hooked. Koleosho sends the World Cup winner to the shops before cutting back to Amdouni, but the Swiss forward’s shot is blocked.
48 min: Not the first time Burnley have had a lead in the Premier League this season, but their early advantage at Spurs didn’t last long. Twelve minutes to be exact, before Son Heung-min scored the first goal of his hat-trick as Tottenham romped to a 5-2 win. Burnley look a lot more composed here. They are calmly keeping possession and Forest are getting sucked in to challenges they shouldn’t be making.
Peeeeep!
We’re underway again. Stuart Broad, a Nottingham boy of course, and Jimmy Anderson were on the pitch at half-time, waving and smiling etc. Why not.
Half-time reading:
Half-time: Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley
Koleosho is the star of that first half. If things carry on like that, we could well see a second yellow card for Montiel.
45 min: Two minutes added on here. Elanga drives through the middle but his shot at Trafford is weak. Forest need to regroup at the break.
43 min: Burnley were completely outplayed for the first half an hour, but have been the stronger side since. What a huge three points this could be. A long way to go, though.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley (Amdouni 41)
What a fabulous goal from Amdouni! Koleosho has been Burnley’s biggest threat tonight, and he proves the difference here. The teenager burns down the left flank with searing pace, flies past Worrell to the byline and cuts back towards the penalty spot. Foster takes a swing but can only get a minor touch, but Amdouni is there on the edge of the box to volley the ball first time into the corner. An unerring finish! Turner had no chance.
Updated
37 min: Corner to Forest, clipped to the back post where Sangare is one of three players in red lurking unmarked. The ball comes through a crowd of players, and misses all the Forest attackers. Lucky for Trafford, who was pinned on his line.
36 min: The standard of Burnley’s set pieces has been shocking. Brownhill again the guilty party.
35 min: Booking for Montiel, who has had a torrid time at right back for Forest. He’s very late on Brownhill, and protests to the referee, but it’s a clear yellow.
34 min: Burnley’s best spell of the match so far! Cullen does brilliantly down the left and flashes an excellent low cross across the six-yard box, just beyond Gudmundsson, before Foster shrugs off Hudson-Odoi and crosses again from the right.
32 min: Booking for Mangala! A harsh one at that, as after Burnley are awarded a free-kick, Brownhill boots the ball at point-blank range at Mangala’s shins, and the Belgian is penalised for not retreating 10 yards. Mangala couldn’t do a thing about it!
31 min: Talking of goalkeeping, how about this from Bailey Peacock-Farrell, formerly of Burnley and now of Leeds (on loan at Danish side AGF). Oooof.
Bailey Peacock 🦚 pic.twitter.com/8ILnauhMXs
— Leeds, That! (@leedsthat) September 18, 2023
29 min: And just like that, Burnley nearly score! Elanga is caught in his half by Brownhill, Koleosho feeds Amdouni, who unleashes hell from 25 yards, a shot low and hard into the corner. Turner dives to his right and just about turns it around the post. Great save from the former Arsenal man!
25 min: Kompany is hopping about his technical area like this Millwall fan yesterday (at home to Leeds). His side are all at sea, and lucky not to be behind.
A Bouncing Millwall fan! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/s8znafina9
— Not Match of the Day (@NOT_MOTD) September 18, 2023
23 min: Corner to Burnley. Rest bite for their defence. Brownhill floats his delivery straight into the hands of Turner.
21 min: Gibbs-White, so often Forest’s catalyst last season, skips past Taylor down the right wing. He sprints into the box, cuts back on his left and loses his footing at the crucial moment! Burnley’s defenders recover, and the pass is wayward.
Updated
18 min: An email from Richard Hirst (Nottingham student 1973-76) re my earlier comment on Forest’s top tier midfield/attack.
“The actual top six, or the ‘entitled’ top six? You have to be clear in these days of Chelsea, Man Utd and Newcastle being …….. not in the top six.”
You are quite right, Richard. I meant the entitled top six, I guess. But these days that could be anything from first to 15th. What I’m trying to say is: Forest are good these days.
16 min: Burnley are hanging on. Beyer tries to dribble out of defence but is muscled off the ball by Awoniyi. Again the big striker feeds Hudson-Odoi, who stings the palms of Trafford with a long-range shot. Tried to bend it into the near post, but Trafford tips it away.
Updated
14 min: Back come Forest. They are all over Burnley like a rash. Elanga turns well and feeds Hudson-Odoi with a slide-rule pass. Another driving run into the box before a clever cut back finds Awoniyi, but an excellent block from Al Dakhil keeps the scores level.
11 min: Booking for Trafford in Burnley’s goal! The keeper labours over a goal kick and referee Robert Jones gets his yellow card out! The officials are cracking down on time-wasting this season, but that does seem extreme. Kompany is not impressed on the sidelines.
8 min: First real involvement for Hudson-Odoi, who is playing off the left with Elanga on the right. Hudson-Odoi drives at Roberts and gets a few bums of seats with his direct play but his cross is poor.
6 min: Lively start from Burnley’s left winger, Koleosho, who has already skipped past Montiel on a couple of occasions. The youngster is eligible to represent the United States, Canada, Nigeria, and Italy, as he was born and raised in the United States to a Nigerian father and an Italian-Canadian mother. Oh, and he had a youth career in Spain but represents Italy at youth level.
Updated
4 min: Lovely turn from Foster, who skips away from Sangare in midfield, leaving the Ivorian for dead. Foster drives towards Forest’s box and unloads a fierce drive straight at Turner.
2 min: Forest have set up in a clear 4-2-3-1. I have to say the front six of Mangala, Sangare, Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Awoniyi is top tier. On paper, hard to find a better midfield/forward combo outside the top six, for my money.
Peeeeeeep!
We’re underway in Nottingham.
Both teams observe a minute’s silence for the victims in the natural disasters in Libya and Morocco. A particular poignant moment for Anass Zaroury, a Morocco international, on the Burnley bench tonight.
Updated
The teams are out! Nottingham come out in their Garibaldi red, Burnley in what can only be described as a awful away shirt. Bile coloured. Eeeeesh, who thought that up.
I was a student in Nottingham for three years, 2006-09, and spent many an afternoon at the City Ground. Great city, great ground. The club celebrates 125 years at the famous stadium this year.
Have seen plenty of clips but quite excited to watch Lyle Foster tonight. The Burnley forward signed in January and has looked really lively this season, scoring against Spurs and Villa. The South African spoke over the summer about struggling with depression at his former club in Belgium, Westerlo:
“I was in my apartment all by myself. I realised I just felt this huge sense of loneliness. I just used to try and go to training, play games and honestly the best thing to do at that time of my life was to go back home and sleep. There was no real excitement or looking forward to anything. That’s when I realised I was in some trouble and I panicked a little bit. I didn’t know what was going on or how to deal with it because it was the first time I was in a position like that.”
Foster has credited assistant manager Craig Bellamy with helping him at Burnley.
“The position I’m in as a Burnley player, to be preparing for my first season in the Premier League is something I have dreamed of my whole life. I’m smiling again. I’m happy to be around my teammates and happy to be on the field. Thanks to the coach, Craig, who has been a massive help and the club as a whole, who have opened up and spoken to me about it.”
If last summer’s business was frenetic and perhaps a bit scattergun, Forest seem to have got their eye in this time around. Just £5m for Callum Hudson-Odoi, £32m for the highly-rated Ibrahim Sangaré from PSV Eindhoven, plus Anthony Elanga, Matt Turner, Ola Aina, Andrey Santos, Divock Origi and Gonzalo Montiel all for relatively modest fees or loans in today’s market. It’s telling that so many of the players they have signed are starters. The only negative was losing Brennan Johnson to Spurs, but £47m certainly helps to balance the books.
Among all those new faces, it’s very heartwarming to see Joe Worrall is still at the heart of Forest’s defence. His recent excellent performances are all the more impressive knowing that he endured a family tragedy at the end of August: Worrall’s uncle was the police sergeant, Graham Saville, who died after being hit by a train while trying to save a man in distress. The captain is playing for his boyhood club, but is not in the starting XI on sentimentality. The 26-year-old is a fine player and signed a new contract a week ago.
Updated
The teams
Nottm Forest: Turner, Aina, Worrall, McKenna, Montiel, Mangala, Sangare, Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Gibbs-White, Awoniyi.
Subs: Tavares, Kouyate, Wood, Santos, Dominguez, Niakhate, Yates, Vlachodimos, Origi.
Burnley: Trafford, Al Dakhil, Beyer, Taylor, Roberts, Gudmundsson, Cullen, Brownhill, Koleosho, Amdouni, Foster.
Subs: Cork, Rodriguez, Benson, Berge, Zaroury, Ramsey, Ndayishimiye,
Delcroix, Muric.
Preamble
Almost exactly a year ago, Nottingham Forest were in a bit of a pickle. Promoted to the Premier League just a couple of months previously, they had spent heavily in the summer – 21 new arrivals in total – but after a nervy start to the season, they would spend September languishing near the bottom of the table. Shortly afterwards, following his fifth straight defeat (a 4-0 defeat at Leicester), manager Steve Cooper was mooted for the sack. Forest would eventually stay up, Leicester would go down. That’s football, folks.
Burnley are not quite in the same situation – manager Vincent Kompany still has the backing of (most) fans and there were only the 15 (!) new signings – but there are certainly similarities between the two clubs. Burnley are pointless from the first three games, but have had a tough start (Manchester City, Aston Villa, Spurs): nobody is ruling them out from Doing a Forest just yet.
In fact, their only competitive win of the season thus far is … a 1-0 win away at Forest in the League Cup. This isn’t the sexiest fixture of the weekend, but it could well be a cracker.
Kick-off: 7.45pm BST
