New Nottingham Forest boss Vitor Pereira reacts to his side’s late 1-0 home loss to Liverpool in the Premier League
Vitor Pereira reacts during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool at City Ground on February 21, 2026(Image: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Vitor Pereira questioned Liverpool’s winner and admitted he was “angry with football” after a dramatic finish at Nottingham Forest. Alexis Mac Allister scored the only goal seven minutes into additional time to earn the Reds a 1-0 Premier League victory on Sunday afternoon.
The strike was allowed after a lengthy VAR check ruled Virgil van Dijkonside from Dominik Szoboszlai‘s cross before his header was parried by Stefan Ortega into the path of Mac Allister.
And new Forest boss Pereira said: “We lost the ball from a throw-in and then there was a small tactical detail. If you want to control the far post as the far post was the zone they attacked with the biggest players, it means we had to adjust our line to control the situation.
OPINION
Paul Gorst
OPINION
Ian Doyle
“It’s not possible in a short time to fix everything, and they scored a goal. It was very, very unfair, but this is football.
“In my opinion, (Hugo) Ekitike was in the same zone (as Van Dijk) and was offside. But it won’t alter the decision.”
Forest dominated the first half but Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker was only required to make one save of note all game when denying Callum Hudson-Odoi in the opening moments.
Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
“I am very frustrated today, it was very difficult to go inside the dressing room,” said Pereira. “What could I say to them?
“Even after we conceded the disallowed goal, we had a chance to score because we want to win the game.
“I am frustrated and sad and angry with football. But it’s time to keep the mentality, to come back stronger and with confidence to face the future because the first half we played in the way we played in Istanbul (Forest beat Fenerbahce 3-0 in the Europa League play-off first leg on Thursday) but we didn’t score the goals.
“We didn’t score the chances we created, we had two good chances but we didn’t score.
“We didn’t give Liverpool anything, no counter-attacks, no spaces, doing very good pressure.
“The block was compact, they played long balls and second balls and it meant the first half was only missing the goals from us. It was a perfect first half against a big team.
“Second half, of course we played three days ago and we couldn’t rest properly. Four hours travelling it’s not easy to come here and play the second half in the same way as the first.
“In the low block they played more with the ball, but they didn’t create a lot.”
Forest are now only two points clear of the relegation zone but Pereira, who replaced the sacked Sean Dyche last week, said: “I’m very confident we can stay up.”
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo’s dedicated LFC Facebook page