Nottingham Forest 2 – 2 Ipswich Town
A last gasp Michail Antonio equaliser earned Nottingham Forest a point and preserved their unbeaten start to the season, against an impressive Ipswich side. Town boss Mick McCarthy said he was proud of his sides display vs a team he believes are the champions elect, and he had all the right to be. Ipswich twice took the lead through Daryl Martin and looked extremely well organised and solid at the back throughout the match – and if not for two very poorly defended corners, this would have been enough to make them the first side to take 3 points from Forest this season.
Forest were not inferior in this match however, crafting several opportunities it what was a very open entertaining match. Both sides fielding attacking line ups made you think there could be goals and those thoughts proved to be correct. In an end to end first half both sides looked fairly resolute at the back but also threatening going forward at the same time. The inevitable first goal came from a brilliant piece of individual play by Murphy, taking on two players before curling his shot home, meaning the Tractor boys lead at the break. Forest improved second half starting very brightly and looking the more likely side to score, after numerous penalty decisions were turned down by the referee the home side finally levelled, Robert Tesche scoring his first Forest goal, from a corner. The home crowd were again silenced however, Murphy again scoring and again giving the visitors the lead, after Forest failed to push on after equalising. With the final 10 minutes approaching Stuart Pearce’s side went for it and somehow failed to score when Michail Antonio rounded the keeper, had his shot blocked on the line, and Assombalonga’s shot off the rebound being fantastically saved by Dean Gerken. After this it looked like it just wasn’t going to be the Reds’ day but deep into injury time, Forest grabbed the all important goal through a second corner earning an, on the balance of play, deserved point.
Nottingham Forest
| Karl Darlow Looked like he could have done better for the first goal but held on too a few shots well and claimed the ball she it was in the air | 6.5 |
| Jack Hunt Didn’t have his best game in a Forest shirt getting outclassed by his counter part Mings on the left | 5.0 |
| Michael Mancienne Made one great last ditch tackle to go with a fine display, keeping Mcgoldrick quiet | 7.5 |
| Kelvin Wilson Looked decent but picked up a injury half in hour in | 4.5 |
| Eric Lichaj Was tactically subbed in the second half as he did very little going forward and should not have been beaten as easily as he was by Murphy leading to the first goal | 3.0 |
| Chris Burke An unimpressive performance again from the Scottish international, getting into good shooting positions at times but choosing the wrong option | 4.0 |
| Henri Lansbury Was far from his best and got frustrated easily, getting an unnecessary yellow card. But saying that he still provided both assists for Forest | 7.0 |
| Robert Tesche Bagged his first goal for his new club and played impressively all match, getting the home team motm award | 8.0 |
| Michail Antonio Had a few good moments without doing anything spectacular but then popped up at the end and scored the crucial goal | 7.5 |
| Matty Fryatt Seemed better when moved onto the wing Frytt didn’t really have any chances falling to him, but played well with what h got | 6.5 |
| Britt Assombalonga Missed a few good chances that he would have put away without thinking about it a few weeks ago, seems to be losing confidence | 4.5 |
Substitutions
| Dan Harding His cross won the corner in injury time, and having come off the bench Harding out in a good case that he should be starting | 6.0 |
| Lars Veldwijk Struggled to get his head on the long balls aimed at him, didm’t play well | 3.5 |
| Jamaal Lascelles Was caught out a bit for the second goal but was decent on the ball and good in the air | 5.0 |
Ipswich Town
| Dean Gerken Pulled off a couple of breath taking saves but didn’t come for enough crosses, particular set pieces | 7.5 |
| Jonathan Parr Deal with the threat of Antionio well eventually forcing him to be switched to the other wing, did not cope as well vs Fryatt though and often left space behind him | 5.5 |
| Lukw Chambers Had a decent game vs his former club, did allow Forest a few chances that on another day would have been a goal | 6.5 |
| Christoph Berra A really good performance by the ex-Wolves man, heading every ball which came his way and didn’t deserve to concede two goals | 8.5 |
| Tyrone Mings Another strong performer for Town, Mings was a nuisance down the left and looked very sound defensively | 8.0 |
| Karl Skuse Dominated Forest’s midfield up until defensive substituted allowed them to get more men forward. Playing the deeps roll in a attacking formation Skuse kept Ipswich solid | 8.5 |
| Luke Hyam Was fairly quiet all match | 6.0 |
| Jon Williams Coped with some rough treatment that having a slight physique often gets you, and looked very good on the ball going forward | 7.0 |
| Conor Sammon Never looked in control of the ball, attacks sometimes seemed to stopped dead when going through him. | 3.5 |
| David Mcgoldrick The home fans will be thankful that there former player did not show the form he has been so far this season, in this match. Mcgoldrick did not have his biggest contribute to a match | 5.0 |
| Daryl Murphy Two goals, one very well taken and overall a really good performance from a player with a great record vs Forest | 9,0 |
Substitutions
| Tommy Smith Came on as a change in tactics, which evidently didn’t work as his introduction allowed Forest to much time and space on the ball, rating reflecting this more then his individual performance | 3.5 |
| Jay Tabb The small nippy midfielder had a few good dribbles and touches without having a large influence on the match | 5.5 |
| Teddy Bishop Youngster Biahop did not have a lasting impact on the match, very quiet | 4.0 |
Man of the Match
| Chris Burke: With honourable mentions to Andy Reid and Michael Mancienne, Burke is my man of the match, scored a pearler and was a pain in the travellers side until he was eventually subbed. Forests long balls from midfield to the wings were all controlled with aplomb by the former Cardiff and Birmingham man and his quick footwork was hard for Blackpool to deal with. | 9.0 |
