Ange Postecoglou became the first permanent Nottingham Forest manager to fail to win any of his first five games in charge since the 19th century as his new side went down 1-0 to Sunderland at the City Ground.
Sunderland have adapted well to life back in the Premier League (PL), but a trip to Forest represented arguably the sternest test of their credentials yet.
It was unsurprisingly the hosts who had the lion’s share of possession in the opening stages, but it took them until the midway point to work a sight of goal, and when they did, it was an uncharacteristically wayward header from Chris Wood which flew well over the bar.
Their sluggish start was eventually punished in brutal fashion when Sunderland took a surprise lead. There was an element of simplicity in how it came around, as Granit Xhaka’s free-kick was headed home at the far post by the unmarked Omar Alderete.
That opening goal came with a cloud of controversy as Forest felt the award of the initial free-kick was an incorrect call, and replays would certainly support that theory.
With a burning sense of injustice behind them, there was expectation that the Tricky Trees would produce a response, and they so nearly did on the stroke of half-time when Dan Ndoye’s effort deflected off Trai Hume and whistled agonisingly wide of the post.
It’s not unusual for games involving Postecoglou-managed sides to be end-to-end affairs, and the second half was certainly shaping up to be that way in the opening stages.
As the two sides traded early blows, Postecoglou decided he’d seen enough and made a double chance in an attempt to inject some new impetus into his misfiring front line.
Perhaps no one in the Forest ranks would’ve loved to peg Sunderland back more than boyhood Newcastle fan Elliot Anderson, and he twice came close to doing so when he first forced a smart stop out of Robin Roefs at his near post before curling narrowly over from the edge of the area.
Postecoglou’s prior substitutes certainly had a positive impact, with two of them coming close to levelling the scores, but both Omari Hutchinson and Igor Jesus were denied by Roefs, who was becoming busier as the hosts ramped up the pressure.
Postecoglou was left pondering how that pressure didn’t yield an equaliser 10 minutes from time, when Wood first saw his volley saved by Roefs from point-blank range before incredibly heading wide from six yards when left unmarked at the far post.
That proved to be the final chance that came and went for Forest, who slumped to a fifth defeat from their last seven home league games. The evening belonged to Sunderland, who secured their first away league win of the season and ended the evening in the PL top four.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Robin Roefs (Sunderland)
Key stats
- Sunderland have kept a clean sheet in three of their six games, only Newcastle (four) and Tottenham Hotspur (four) have done this more often in the Premier League this season.
- Nottingham Forest have failed to score in three of their six games, only Aston Villa (four) have failed to score more often in the Premier League this season.
- Forest had 22 shots against Sunderland - only v Southampton in August 2024 (23) have they had more in a Premier League match since their promotion in 2022.