NOTTINGHAM – Alexis Mac Allister’s 97th-minute goal rescued Liverpool from a lacklustre performance to beat struggling Nottingham Forest 1-0 on Feb 22 in a huge boost to their chances of Champions League football next season.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted to Sky Sports: “If you score in the last minute, there’s always an element of luck.
“But so many times this season, we’ve experienced the opposite.
“I don’t mean conceding in the last minute – that’s happened as well – but it’s about us deserving more than what we got. A draw would have been a fairer result than a win for us.”
Forest’s fourth manager of the season, Vitor Pereira, was taking charge of his new team for the first time in the league and they looked set to earn a deserved point until a dramatic finale.
Mac Allister had a goal ruled out when he charged down Ola Aina’s clearance in the closing stages.
The ball was deemed to have struck the Argentinian midfielder on the arm.
However, to Pereira’s fury, Forest did not heed the warning as they slipped to within two points of the English Premier League relegation zone.
Mac Allister swept home a rebound after Virgil van Dijk’s header was saved.
After another lengthy video assistant referee review, this time the call went in Liverpool’s favour, despite Hugo Ekitike standing in an offside position.
Said Mac Allister: “Mixed feelings to be honest. Love scoring, love winning. In that sense it’s a really good day. But I don’t think we played very well.”
Liverpool remained in sixth but climbed level on points (45) with Chelsea and Manchester United and within six points of Aston Villa. Forest are 17th on 27 points.
Thanks to the strong performance of English sides in European competition this season, a place in the top five will almost certainly secure Champions League qualification.
Liverpool were dealt a blow before kick-off when Florian Wirtz picked up an injury in the warmup.
The German’s ingenuity was sorely missed in a performance badly lacking in attacking impetus until a late rally saved their blushes.
Said Slot of the first half: “We lost every ball. We could not keep the ball for one second. If we went long, we lost the duel. We lost a lot of second balls.
“The only part of the game that went well was defending inside the box. I saw players throwing themselves for long balls, had to defend set pieces. That’s what we did well and stayed in the game.
“The second half I saw something slightly different. We took over the game, maybe because they played on Thursday (in the Europa League).”
Meanwhile, interim United manager Michael Carrick said “it wasn’t really a big decision” to bring 20-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo back into the starting line-up after he was largely out of favour under predecessor Ruben Amorim.
The Englishman has overseen four wins and a draw since replacing Amorim in January, with Mainoo a key reason in the club’s upturn of fortunes.
In an interview with the BBC published before the Feb 23 league trip to Everton, Carrick said: “I’ve known Kobbie a long time. I started working with him when I think he was 13 or 14, when I was starting to do my coaching badges – a good few years ago. Just little bits. And then, obviously, when I was here the first time, he was in and around a little bit…
“I was just a big fan of watching him play and knowing what he was capable of. So it wasn’t really a big decision to play him. And, to be fair, it’s not easy when you haven’t played to find your rhythm and find your form…
“We’re just letting him go and find his flow and find his rhythm of playing football again.
“I’ve been really conscious of not giving him an awful lot – a couple of little pointers, a bit of positional things and some little bits here and there – but trust in what he is. He’s a fantastic footballer and he’s got a huge talent.” AFP, REUTERS