Nottingham Forest's first game under new head coach Oliver Glasner, who arrives after leading Crystal Palace to FA Cup and Europa League success, ended in defeat at the City Ground on Saturday, Anton Stach's free-kick in the 87th minute giving Leeds United a 1-0 win that was their first victory at the ground since 1972. Forest had the better of the chances, denied by the woodwork from Nikola Milenkovic and two missed headers from Igor Jesus, finishing with 56% of possession and 12 attempts on goal to Leeds' 11, but they could not turn the territory into a goal.
Leeds had already had a goal disallowed in the first half, Harry Wilson ruled offside after latching onto a pushed pass from Jayden Bogle, before Stach lined up a free-kick on the edge of the box and beat Matz Sels at the near post. It continued a pattern for the Germany midfielder, who scored more direct free-kicks in the Premier League last season than anyone but Dominik Szoboszlai. "I trust him with everything," said Leeds manager Daniel Farke.
Glasner's starting XI contained no new signings; eight of the eleven also started Forest's opening-day win over Brentford last season under Nuno Espirito Santo. The head coach was cautious about drawing conclusions from a single match. "There is no button to press," he said. "It was pretty clear I can't come with my staff and we lay the hands on the shoulder, and all of a sudden we play like Real Madrid in the 70s. That was clear but I could see a team who worked very hard to get the win." Murillo had returned only three weeks earlier from four months out injured, Glasner added, and Chris Wood had missed two friendlies with minor issues.
Farke, starting his fourth season at Elland Road and the third-longest-serving manager in the division behind Mikel Arteta and Unai Emery, offered the kind of continuity Forest are chasing under demanding owner Evangelos Marinakis after four managers in twelve months. Glasner gets an immediate chance to respond: Leeds return to the City Ground in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday. "This always gives me a great feedback, how we deal with this situation," Glasner said. "We do not bury our heads in the sand so we are focusing on what we need to do and what we have done well."