Oliver Glasner's Leeds Debut Ends in Disappointment for Nottingham Forest
Oliver Glasner stood alone on the edge of his technical area, hands buried in his pockets, as the noise swelled around him. Nottingham Forest’s fifth head coach in under a year, the man charged with resetting a restless club, took in the scene before kick-off and the promise of a fresh start.
Ninety minutes later, the script had been ripped up.
With the game drifting towards stalemate and the new era craving a foothold, Anton Stach stepped up and silenced the City Ground. A whipped free-kick, late and low, sneaked in at Matz Sels’s near post with only a couple of minutes of normal time left. Sels got something on it, but not enough; he ended up tangled around his right post as the ball squeezed in and the Leeds end exploded behind him.
So much for the grand opening.
Stach seizes the moment
Clear chances had been scarce, tension thicker than quality. Then Nikola Milenkovic lunged clumsily into Stach on the edge of the box and handed Leeds the invitation they had been probing for all evening.
Stach didn’t wait for anyone else. He bent his free-kick with pace and whip towards the near upright. Sels read it late, flung out a glove, and collided painfully with the post as the ball spun over the line. Every outfield Leeds player sprinted to the corner, Glasner puffed out his cheeks, and the Forest support began to stream away.
By full time, the away section, drenched in evening sun, was still bouncing. The home stands were mostly empty.
Leeds show their intent
Leeds had carried the greater threat throughout. They managed the game, squeezed Forest’s space and, crucially, looked like a side with a plan.
In the first half, Harry Wilson thought he had the perfect start. On his debut, he darted in behind to collect Jayden Bogle’s smart pass into the area and finished, only to see the assistant’s flag go up. The goal chalked off, the message remained: Leeds had arrived with ambition, and Wilson’s signing underlined it.
The pattern continued after the break. Tarik Muharemovic, another debutant and a £34m signing from Sassuolo, almost marked his first outing with a towering header. He rose at the back post and powered the ball towards the top corner, but Sels flung out a strong left hand to claw it away. It was one of the few times Forest’s goalkeeper could claim to have decisively won his duel.
Muharemovic, alongside Joe Rodon and Jaka Bijol in a three-man defence, looked assured and aggressive, part of a Leeds back line that allowed Forest little joy.
Forest’s flickers, and what Glasner left in reserve
Forest’s response came in flashes rather than sustained pressure. Glasner, notably, left big-money signing Ousmane Diomande, another £34m arrival from Sporting, and Xaver Schlager out of his starting XI. The message was clear: reputations would wait; structure came first.
When Forest did stir, the crowd woke with them. Just before half-time, Neco Williams met Ola Aina’s cross from the right with a firm header that finally roused Glasner from his stillness. That attack sparked Forest’s best spell. From the recycled cross by James McAtee, Milenkovic and Jair Cunha combined in a crowded box to send a header against James Trafford’s post. The Leeds goalkeeper watched it flash past him and bounce to safety. For all Forest’s frustration, that was about as close as they came.
Trafford, otherwise, had a largely untroubled evening. Leeds restricted Forest to snatched efforts and hopeful deliveries, rationing them to moments in a flat, underwhelming opener that never quite caught fire for the home side.
A bruising opening chapter
As the final whistle went, Leeds’s players walked towards their jubilant supporters, their job done, their statement made. Glasner turned back towards the tunnel, his first competitive game ending with a late punch to the gut and more questions than answers.
Forest do not have long to brood. Leeds return on Tuesday, this time in the Carabao Cup. Same opponents, same setting.
For Glasner and Forest, it already feels like more than just a rematch.
