John Brewin was at Portman Road. Here’s his verdict. Thanks for reading this MBM!
Oliver Glasner’s turn to speak to Sky. “Mixed [feelings] but more positive … when we play an away game like we did today … playing so well … we played such a dominant second half … I really loved the way we played … the spirit … it’s building up on the performances and staying patient … do not lose our nerve because the goals will come … we don’t need to address a problem … everyone who has children knows it … sometimes your child gives huge effort and things don’t work … and then what are you doing as a father or a mother? … you are supporting them! … you are encouraging your children to keep going … you have these periods in sports … and in life … if we don’t have this effort, if we don’t have this performance, if we don’t create these chances, then I would be nervous and have concerns … but when I see how we play … it’s the only way now, to stay patient, not to make the problem bigger and bigger … it’s just a question of time … then in a few weeks you will ask how we score goal after goal, and I also don’t have the answer! … nobody knows!”
As for the Diop decision: was he surprised it wasn’t a red? “Yes … it felt a clear red card … the explanation was that McAtee goes away from the goal … when you run one against the keeper and run straight, very often the angle is not very good, so we tell the players to sometimes create an angle … he prepared his finish … by going a little bit half-right the keeper has to move and that opens the near or far post … but that’s more the football tactical side … it was the wrong decision … on the other side, we couldn’t have played a more dominant second half that we did … 11 to one shots … enough situations to decide the game … and that’s why I will never blame the referee.”
Gary O’Neil speaks to Sky Sports. “We had to hang on and fight … a tough game … tough conditions … we were never quite good enough with the ball to turn it into a football match … it ended up being Forest’s direct play, second balls, that ended up taking control of the game … we had to match that … the wind was crazy … they’re a good side … to fight back and pick up another point … we rolled our sleeves up … I thought [the Diop decision] was a really well-worked-out decision by the referee … sometimes they go your way … tonight it did … we move on … we ground it out … we did OK … we’ll get some learnings from it, and get ready for a big test at Hull next week.”
Issa Diop, when asked by Sky whether his last-man tackle on James McAtee was worthy of a red card, perhaps unsurprisingly answers: “I don’t think so … I did the tackle because I saw Lief [Davis] covering … also [McAtee] pushed the ball wide and too far … Lief was there to recover the ball as well … so it is not a red … I was quite confident about that!”
Morgan Gibbs-White, who has been named as player of the match, speaks to Sky Sports. “We’ve had so many good performances recently … we’ve never been able to get the three points … we had a lot of chances … the second half, we dominated completely and should have won the game in my eyes … as long as we keep performing like this, the wins will have to come … it’s the question we’ve been asking ourselves in training every week … we’ve been doing shooting drills in training … it was top … unfortunately they don’t go in today … it’s the topic of discussion … it’s not good enough … but I’m proud of the boys for keeping going and keeping performances high … it’s a mentality thing … a bit of bad luck that we’re going through … we’ve got to stay positive … keep the togetherness … keep the mentality right … if we keep performing like that every week, surely a bit of luck will come our way … I kinda agree with the [Diop red-card] decision because whether [James McAtee] is going to get there, nobody knows … but he is the last man at the end of the day … I think there needs to be a little bit of ownership on the pitch … the referee and the linesman can see exactly what’s happened … we wait for VAR to intervene all the time instead of making decision there and then on the pitch and making the game natural … it is what it is … we have to take ownership and take our chances … keeping the good vibes up in training.”
There are a whole weekend’s worth of matches still to be played, of course. But after the Friday night football, here’s how the Premier League looks after that 1-1 draw. Ipswich move into the top half, until tomorrow at least, while Nottingham Forest spring out of the relegation places at the expense of Coventry City.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 7 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Arsenal | 7 | 6 | 18 |
| 3 | Brighton | 7 | 18 | 16 |
| 4 | Chelsea | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 6 | Brentford | 7 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 | Leeds | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| 8 | Everton | 7 | 1 | 10 |
| 9 | Ipswich | 8 | -4 | 10 |
| 10 | Hull | 7 | 1 | 9 |
| 11 | Newcastle | 7 | -4 | 8 |
| 12 | Aston Villa | 7 | -4 | 8 |
| 13 | Man Utd | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 7 | -8 | 7 |
| 15 | AFC Bournemouth | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 16 | Nottm Forest | 8 | -4 | 6 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 18 | Coventry | 7 | -8 | 6 |
| 19 | Fulham | 7 | -3 | 5 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 7 | -8 | 4 |
Ipswich Town will probably be the happier of the two teams, given the balance of play favoured Nottingham Forest for the most part. Forest scored a fine early goal, Neco Williams lashing home Daniel Muñoz’s cross, but Nikola Milenković’s mistake gifted Julio Enciso an equaliser, and despite their second-half dominance, the visitors’ bluntness in the final third cost them dear. Having said that, they’ll wonder how on earth Issa Diop wasn’t sent packing for a tractor-adjacent last-man clank on James McAtee; had Ipswich been reduced to ten men for the majority of the second period, we could be looking at a very different result. But here we are. The xG at the end: 0.46 to Ipswich, 2.31 to Forest. Yes, Ipswich will probably drift off happier as everyone goes to sleep tonight.
FULL TIME: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest
The whistle goes again, this time to signal the end of the match.
90 min +8: The whistle goes … because the ball’s gone flat.
90 min +7: Palacios dribbles his way into the Forest box down the right but can’t sort his feet out to shoot.
90 min +6: Schlager sends a free kick long … but Murillo pesters Davis to the extent of conceding a foul. The pressure on Ipswich needlessly released.
90 min +5: A long ball pumped into the Forest box. O’Shea cushions the ball into the path of Akpom, who lashes an acrobatic effort wide right. Then the flag pops up for offside.
90 min +4: One last throw of the dice for Forest. Wood comes on for Delap, who has been poor tonight.
90 min +3: Forest have been the dominant team. Is their bluntness in front of goal going to cost them yet again?
90 min +2: Clarke powers down the left, cuts infield and aims for the top-right corner. Wide. That’s Ipswich’s first effort on goal since the equaliser.
90 min +1: Forest’s xG is now up to 2.31.
90 min: A loose McAtee pass down the middle balloons off Diop’s head and inadvertently releases Hudson-Odoi down the inside-left channel! Hudson-Odoi enters the box before dragging a weak effort across Walton and wide right. A huge chance to snatch it at the death! Though having said that, there will be eight additional minutes.
Updated
88 min: Delap has the chance to shoot from distance, but thinks twice before attempting to find Munoz to his right. He clanks the pass to the nearest blue shirt.
86 min: Ipswich make a double switch, sending on Matusiwa and Akpom for Florentino and Enciso. When the game restarts, Milkenkovic meets a right-wing cross and flashes a header harmlessly wide left.
84 min: Yep, very strange, especially as once Netz is sent on in place of the stricken Williams, the referee restarts the game with a drop ball. Eh? Forest blooter it clear, which is probably just as well, all round.
83 min: McAtee stops when there’s no whistle, and for a second it looks as though Enciso is going to race clear down the inside-right channel in farcical conditions. But then the whistle does go. All very strange.
81 min: Delap and Hudson-Odoi combine cutely down the left. They nearly open up Ipswich … nearly, but not quite, and the ball pings through to Walton.
80 min: The game restarts, but Williams does not. Forest are down to ten men for now.
79 min: Williams chases after a lost cause down the left. He stops the ball going out for a goal kick, but at some personal expense, landing awkwardly on the pitch surround. Maeda might have fallen on him too. He’s in some pain.
77 min: McAtee has a dig from distance. Straight at Walton. Forest look like the only potential winners right now. Ipswich haven’t had a shot on target since equalising, while Forest currently lead the xG by somed distance: Ipswich 0.4, Forest 2.06.
75 min: McAtee has an opportunity to shoot from the edge of the D but hesitates and is eventually dispossessed.
74 min: Delap has another go, this time a shot at the end of a long dribble down the middle. He whip-curls an effort towards the bottom right from 25 yards, but it whistles wide of the upright. Not sure Walton had that 100 percent covered.
73 min: Fatawu is replaced by Maeda. Then after the restart, Munoz crosses from the right. Ouattara makes a hash of a high-kicked clearance, and the ball loops to Delap, who heads over from six yards. Big chance.
71 min: The pace of play drops a bit. Both teams sizing each other up after those subs.
69 min: Hudson-Odoi replaces Ndoye.
68 min: Enciso is bundled over, 35 yards from goal. Ipswich consider their options for quite some time, before Davis hoicks the free kick straight out of play for a goal kick. Not worth the wait.
66 min: Ndoye romps down the left and feeds Williams on the underlap. Williams should shoot, but hesitates on the edge of the Ipswich box and the chance is gone.
64 min: Ndoye steals the ball off Florentino and Forest steam foward en masse. Delap makes good down the middle, then feeds Ndoye, who forces a shot from a tight angle on the left past Walton … but once again Davis is on point to clear off the line! Schalger then bundles the rebound out for a goal kick. Forest are getting closer and closer.
63 min: Williams earns Forest a corner down the left. He sends it long. Murillo wins a header in a central position, eight yards out. He sends it wide right. Had he managed to keep that on target, it wasn’t clear that Walton was getting anywhere near it.
61 min: Ipswich twist first, replacing Philogene and Emersonn with Flemming and Clarke.
60 min: McAtee’s speculative cross from the left earns a corner. One corner leads to another, and from that second one, Williams and Murillo take turns to shoot through a crowded box before Schlager ripples the side netting.
58 min: Murillo clanks a poor pass straight to Emersonn, who can’t take advantage despite space opening up in front of him down the right. A low-quality exchange.
56 min: Enciso tries to release Emersonn into the box with a sliderule pass down the left, but overhits it. Sels gathers.
54 min: Murillo follows Diop into the book for a cynicaly clip on Emersonn’s ankle.
Updated
52 min: Nothing comes of the resulting free kick. Ipswich and Diop got away with a big one there. It wasn’t clear that McAtee had played the ball to the right of goal; it wasn’t clear that any covering defender would have stopped him shooting for goal. Forest are fuming, and you can’t blame them. Nine times out of ten, you’d have expected the player to be sent packing, especially once VAR stuck its neb in.
51 min: “After review … a foul by Ipswich number six … however, because the player knocks it to the right side of the goal, the final decision is direct free kick and a yellow card to number six.” The referee giving Diop a big benefit of the doubt there. So surprised that wasn’t a red card.
50 min: McAtee took a heavy touch before being cleaned out by last man Diop, but he was taken down nonetheless. VAR gets involved, and the referee goes over to the screen.
Updated
48 min: McAtee snaffles a loose ball in midfield and looks to burst into space down the middle. Diop slides across and brings him down in the agricultural fashion. The referee waves play on, but surely that’s a foul at the very least? Very strange.
47 min: Ipswich win a throw, then a free kick in short order down the left. Enciso curls the set piece into the mixer. Sels punches powerfully clear under some pressure. The hosts quickly back up to speed.
46 min: Philogene hares after a long pass down the left. Forest are very fortunate Milenkovic is immediately switched on; the defender blocks a low cross.
Ipswich get the second half started. No changes yet.
Half-time postbag. “There’s always one relegated team per season which is too good to go down. I don’t think it’ll be Forest this season, because they really do look too good to go down, but it could be them if they don’t start putting away their chances. That said, the team too good to go down will probably be Manchester City” – Kári Tulinius.
“Just to underline how early in the season it still is, the live table has had Forest in 18th, 10th and 17th in the space of half an hour” – Dave Estherby
“With a clever Austrian manager, a feisty Austrian midfielder (Xaver Schlager) and a crafty Swiss winger (Dan Ndoye), Forest have got a bit of Alpine sturdiness about them these days” – Peter Oh
The story of first half … told via the medium of mid-80s Scottish indie pop.
Not sure this feature has legs, to be honest.
HALF TIME: Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest
That was good fun, and the scoreline is about right.
45 min +2: Delap literally rips O’Shea’s shirt off his back. O’Shea sporting a racy off-the-shoulder number now.
45 min: Enciso romps down the right and swings in low. Emersonn can’t reach the ball before Sels, who snaffles. There will be two additional first-half minutes.
43 min: Forest were thinking about a two-goal lead for a few seconds there. But then the ball was turned over, and after one big clanger by Milenkovic, now look! Forest may go all the way back to the Ouattara challenge on Ndoye, but that’s water under the bridge now.
GOAL! Ipswich Town 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Enciso 41)
Cunha leads a four-on-two counter but takes a heavy touch. He’s easily dispossessed, and that allows O’Shea to blooter clear. Milenkovic should deal with the ball on halfway, but his attempt to pass back to his keeper is mishit. Underhit. Seriously so. Enciso tears away with it, reaches the edge of the box, and slots past Sels and into the bottom left!
Updated
39 min: An Ipswich free kick in a dangerous position, 25 yards out on the right. But Enciso’s delivery is no good, and it’s an easy clearance for Cunha.
37 min: Gibbs-White tries to release Ndoye down the inside-left channel, but his team-mate is clumsily brought down by Ouattara. The referee waves play on, much to Forest’s annoyance. Was Ouatarra the last man? Probably not, but that should have been a free kick at the very least.
36 min: It’s been a really entertaining match. Very open. No point playing the percentages in this wind.
34 min: Walton may have got a little bit on that Gibbs-White bundle, by the way, taking some sting off the ball to make things a bit easier for his team-mate Davis to hack clear. Either way, the Ipswich defence mucked in and got the job done.
32 min: … Diop nearly flashes an own goal past Walton. The ball just clears the crossbar. The second corner of the sequence comes in, and Ndoye, facing the wrong way and not obviously aware of what’s going on, sends an unconventional header, let’s say, wide left.
31 min: Ndoye barrels into acres down the right. He crosses low and long for Gibbs-White, who slides in and guides the ball back across Walton and the face of goal, towards the bottom right. It’s heading in, but Davis hooks off the line just in time, at the expense of a corner, from which …
30 min: Enciso has the ball just to the right of the Forest D. He should release Fatawu into the box with a pass down the inside-right channel, but tries to chop back infield for a shot instead. He’s dispossessed, and the crowd make that sort of noise that most people emit when Ed Sheeran offers to sing.
Updated
28 min: Enciso dances in from the right and shoots. Straight at Sels. Ipswich are asking questions now.
26 min: Ipswich counter and carve out their first big opportunity of the match. A ball swung in from the left. Emersonn takes his second touch of the game, and it’s nearly worthy of an assist. His far-post header’s cushioned back into the path of Philogene, who simply has to score from 12 yards, but bashes his shot straight at Sels, who parries. Forest clear their lines.
25 min: Gibbs-White drives down the inside-left channel and upon reaching the edge of the box, uses Diop as a shield while power-curling towards the top right. The shot sails inches wide.
23 min: Fatawu advances down the right and looks for Emersonn in the Forest box with a low diagonal. Emersonn can’t get there. He’s only touched the ball once so far, and that to restart the game after the goal.
22 min: Munoz once again finds some space down the right. His deep cross is met by Ndoye, but not particularly effectively.
21 min: Ipswich pass it around the back for a bit. They’ve done well to settle down after conceding.
19 min: Enciso looks for the top-right corner with the free kick. High and wide and not so handsome.
18 min: Enciso bursts into some space down the middle and draws a foul out of Gibbs-White and McAtee, who clip him to the floor in a scissor attack. Free kick, in a central position, 25 yards out.
17 min: Munoz again makes a nuisance of himself down the right. He feeds Gibbs-White, whose cross is claimed by Walton, but only at the second grab. Forest are getting plenty of joy down this flank.
15 min: Delap played his role in that goal as well, winning the first phase of possession, taking down a long pass that gave Munoz something to work with. An absolute belter in the end.
GOAL! Ipswich Town 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Williams 13)
This is a lovely goal. Munoz fights for possession down the right, bouncing off O’Shea. The ball breaks to Gibbs-White, who immediately sends Munoz scampering further down the wing. Munoz, in space, swings long for the in-rushing Williams, who cuts in from the left and meets the ball first time, sweeping it powerfully past Walton, who has no chance! Lovely move.
Updated
11 min: Both teams are going for it, despite, or perhaps because of, the wind that’s swirling around wildly. It’s been good fun so far.
9 min: Fatawu cuts in from the right. He’s got Enciso and Emersonn in the middle, but takes on the shot instead, curling viciously towards the top left. But the shot’s always heading high and wide.
8 min: Philogene ships possession carelessly in the centre circle, and suddenly Forest are attacking four on two. Gibbs-White feeds Delap down the inside-right channel; the former Ipswich striker enters the box before slicing a poor shot wide right. Forest looking lively.
7 min: Forest win a free kick out on the right. Gibbs-White curls it long. Ndoye wins a header, cushioning down into the path of Cunha, who from the edge of the box pearls a fierce drive towards the top left. Walton parries well. That’ll have warmed his palms.
5 min: Philogene drives down the middle of the park. He’s heading down a blind alley, but when he loses the ball it fortunately deflects into the path of Enciso, who has a dig from distance. Miles over the bar.
4 min: Munoz hares after a long pass down the right. His cross is calmly dealt with by Diop. Forest first to pretty much everything during these very early exchanges.
2 min: It’s windy in Suffolk. Walton batters a clearance upfield as best he can. Forest very much playing with the wind at their back in this first half.
Most everyone takes the knee … there’s no room for racism … then Forest get the ball rolling. Or flying. Gibbs-White hoicks it straight out for a goal kick.
The teams are out! Ipswich in blue, Forest in red. A fine Friday-evening post-work, pre-match-pints-fuelled atmosphere at Portman Road. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Updated
Gary O’Neil talks to Sky. “The team today allows us to get more attacking players on the pitch … we want as many as we can … we need to be really secure with the ball … it will be a test … they are a very direct side … a big test of us … one that we can learn a bit more about ourselves and hopefully come out on top.”
Oliver Glasner speaks to Sky Sports: “When we watch our performances … we feel we could have four, five or six points more … we are doing everything that is necessary to get the win … it is really English weather today! … I expect a very intense game … this is what we have to match … Morgan [Gibbs-White] is maybe the key player in our attack … he is unlucky, he could have five, six, seven assists already … he is very important.”
Forest start the weekend in 19th place …
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | -4 | 6 |
| 17 | Coventry | 7 | -8 | 6 |
| 18 | Fulham | 7 | -3 | 5 |
| 19 | Nottm Forest | 7 | -4 | 5 |
| 20 | Sunderland | 7 | -8 | 4 |
… so is it already time to panic? NOT YET! says Niall McVeigh, who leads off this week’s 10 Things …
Oliver Glasner … needs to find solutions for the league’s lowest scorers
… while it’s a resounding NO! from Will Unwin, who counsels patience.
Learning the Glasner way is not straightforward … behind the obvious figures, there is plenty of underlying encouragement for Forest
Nottingham Forest also make two changes to their starting XI, after their 1-0 loss at home to the champions Arsenal. Morgan Gibbs-White and Nikola Milenković replace Ousmane Diomande, who drops to the bench, and Nicolás Domínguez, who misses out altogether.
Ipswich make two changes to their starting XI following their 3-2 defeat at Manchester City last weekend. Abdul Fatawu and Jaden Philogene come in for Jacob Greaves and Daizen Maeda, who drop to the bench.
The teams
Ipswich Town: Walton, Ouattara, Diop, O’Shea, Davis, Palacios, Florentino, Fatawu, Enciso, Philogene-Bidace, Emersonn.
Subs: Scherpen, Furlong, Matusiwa, Flemming, Greaves, Akpom, Nunez, Maeda, Clarke.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Jair Cunha, Milenkovic, Murillo, Munoz, McAtee, Schlager, Williams, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Delap.
Subs: John Victor, Diomande, Sangare, Hudson-Odoi, Wood, Kalimuendo, Yates, Netz, Aina.
Referee: Thomas Bramall
VAR: Constantine Hatzidakis
Updated
Preamble
At last, the 1978 show! That year marking the start of imperial phases for both of these clubs: Ipswich Town won their first and only FA Cup, Nottingham Forest their sole league championship. Within another three years, Town were lifting the Uefa Cup (and really should have won another league title to go with Sir Alf’s heroic flash-in-the-pan) by which point Forest were two-time European champions. A pair of genuinely legendary managers, too, in Bobby Robson and Brian Clough. Glory days colliding, banner moments coinciding. Could it all happen again? Well, there’s no point anyone pulling on their boots if we’re not allowed to dream, so why not? Ipswich can go as high as fifth for the evening, though they’d have to win big, while Forest could catapult themselves into the comfort of mid-table. And after that, a world of possibility stretches out ahead. Bobby and Brian showed us how. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!