Latest Nottingham Forest verdict as Ange Postecoglou’s Reds beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at the City Ground
19:35, 27 Sep 2025Updated 19:44, 27 Sep 2025
Sarah Clapson is Nottingham Forest correspondent for NottinghamshireLive and the Nottingham Post. She has covered the Reds since 2015, having joined the Post the previous year. Being involved in the coverage of everything from Evangelos Marinakis’ takeover of the club to Forest winning promotion at Wembley, she has followed the team up and down the country, as well as abroad, to report on the latest goings-on.
Nottingham Forest’s Dilane Bakwa holds off Chemsdine Talbi of Sunderland(Image: Getty)
Ange Postecoglou’s wait for his first win as Nottingham Forest head coach goes on as his team were beaten 1-0 by Sunderland at the City Ground on Saturday evening.
After four games on the road and more than 3,000 miles travelled, the clash with the Black Cats represented Postecoglou’s first in the home dugout at the City Ground. It had been a long wait for the recently-appointed Reds head coach, and he went into the match admitting he felt he still had to earn the love of the Trentside crowd.
The Greek-born Australian hadn’t necessarily been every Forest fan’s choice for the job. His first couple of weeks at the helm had yielded plenty of positives, but perhaps hadn’t entirely convinced all of the doubters.
To do that, Postecoglou had admitted beforehand, he needed wins – something he hadn’t managed in his four away fixtures. The style change and performances had been there – especially in the first half of Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw against Real Betis in the Europa League – but not quite the end result.
Missed chances and late goals conceded had cost the Reds in their previous fixtures. Home comforts on the banks of the Trent presented them with a big opportunity to put that right.
The hosts were without Murillo (thigh) and Douglas Luiz (hamstring), and Postecoglou opted to freshen things up with his starting line-up. He made five changes in all, with Igor Jesus dropping to the bench after his brace in midweek and Morgan Gibbs-White also among the substitutes.
Postecoglou received a warm reception when he emerged from the tunnel ahead of kick-off. But his team were almost caught out early on as confusion at the back led to Wilson Isidor sending a low effort on the turn narrowly wide.
It took until past the 20-minute mark for the hosts to create their first real opportunity. Neco Williams did well to dig out a cross from the right but Chris Wood was unable to find the target with his header.
Forest saw plenty of the ball as the first half progressed but chances were few and far between. Instead, it was Sunderland who took the lead with 38 minutes gone.
The Reds were left fuming as they felt Nicolas Dominguez, on his return from injury, had been fouled by Trai Hume but the free-kick went against the Argentine and he was booked for simulation. Omar Alderete got on the end of Granit Xhaka’s ball in and headed past Matz Sels to put the visitors in front.
VAR checked for a potential offside and Forest argued Williams had been fouled as the ball was put in, but the goal stood. It left Postecoglou’s men with work to do in the second half after 45 minutes in which they had dominated possession but had lacked urgency to go with it.
Postecoglou turned to the cavalry in the second half, with Gibbs-White, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jesus all entering the fray. It led to a bit more potency about the attack, with Elliot Anderson, Gibbs-White and Dilane Bakwa trying their luck.
Black Cats goalkeeper Robin Roefs had a busy few minutes when he thwarted Omari Hutchinson, Jesus and Anderson as the Reds pushed for an equaliser. Wood then had a couple of big chances in the dying minutes which he was unable to make the most of.
It stretched Forest’s winless run to seven games in all competitions. Here’s how Reds reporter Sarah Clapson rated the Forest players at the City Ground.
Matz Sels: Won’t be happy with the way the team conceded; the Reds should certainly have dealt with the free-kick better. Defending set-pieces clearly something Postecoglou needs to work on. Rating: 6/10
Neco Williams: Full of commitment and desire, as always. Linked up well with Bakwa a few times and put in some decent crosses early on. Back to being Mr Consistent again and a key part of the back line. Rating: 7/10
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Nikola Milenkovic: Cleared plenty of balls into the box as Sunderland looked threatening going forward. Forest’s defending as a whole needed to be better for the visitors’ set-piece goal, though. Rating: 6/10
Morato: Getting a run of starts in the absence of the injured Murillo and has settled in pretty well. Helps, of course, that he is now being played in a more familiar position rather than at left-back. Dragged a shot wide late on. Rating: 6/10
Oleksandr Zinchenko: Picked himself up after an early mistake. Looked good when on the ball and showed some clever play at times as he pushed forward, but this was largely a frustrating display from the home side as a whole. Rating: 5.5/10
Elliot Anderson: The Geordie Maradona would have been desperate for a good result in this one. Constantly demanded the ball and tried his luck on more than one occasion with efforts at goal. Rating: 6.5/10
Nicolas Dominguez: Something of a surprise to see the midfielder thrown straight into the line-up on his return from injury. Full of running as he tried to get Forest going, but was at the centre of the bizarre moment that led to Sunderland taking the lead. Rating: 6/10
Dan Ndoye: Got into some really promising positions and saw a fair bit of the ball, but couldn’t quite find the end product. Wasn’t the only one among the home side to suffer a largely frustrating evening. Rating: 5/10
James McAtee: A big opportunity for the summer signing as he got the nod ahead of Morgan Gibbs-White in the first XI. Had some positive moments and made a well-timed tackle in the second half as he helped out defensively, but still something of a mixed display. Rating: 5.5/10
Dilane Bakwa: Managed the hosts’ first effort on target of the evening when he had a go from the edge of the area. That moment came with little more than 20 minutes to go, which said much about how the game had gone up until that point. Rating: 5/10
Chris Wood: Back in the starting XI and wearing the captain’s armband, too. Lacked the kind of sharpness which he had in abundance last season. Had a few sights of goal but couldn’t make them count on this occasion. Rating: 5/10
Subs
Morgan Gibbs-White (for Dominguez, 46mins): Contributed to some good moments as Postecoglou threw on attacking reinforcements in search of a goal. The England international tried to supply one but nothing doing this time. Rating: 5.5/10
Callum Hudson-Odoi (for McAtee, 59mins): Got involved in the final half hour as the Reds pushed to rescue something from the game. Nothing worked on this occasion, though. Rating: 5.5/10
Igor Jesus (for Ndoye, 60mins): Could feel the buzz among the City Ground crowd when he was getting ready to come on, following his brace in midweek. No repeat heroics against Sunderland, though. Rating: 6.5/10
Omari Hutchinson (for Bakwa, 72mins): Quickly made an impact when he came on as he looked lively straight away. Drew a save out of Roefs shortly after entering the fray. Rating: 6.5/10
Arnaud Kalimuendo (for Wood, 90mins): Barely had time to get involved in the dying minutes. Not a great deal he could do during his time on the pitch. Rating: 6/10
Subs not used: John, Sangare, Yates, Cunha.
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