Stach's Late Free-Kick Secures Leeds Victory Over Nottingham Forest

Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest tenure began with a gut punch, settled by a free-kick that silenced the City Ground and sent Leeds United home with all three points.

The new Forest head coach, appointed last month as the club’s fifth manager in under a year after Vitor Pereira’s dismissal, watched his side hold their own for 88 minutes. Then Anton Stach stepped up.

The German midfielder, deadly from distance over the past year, bent a free-kick over the Forest wall and inside Matz Sels’ near post to clinch a 1-0 win and a perfect start to Leeds’ Premier League campaign.

Stach’s dead-ball dagger

The game had always looked like it might be decided by a set-piece. It was scrappy, tight, and heavy on dead-ball routines rather than flowing attacks.

With two minutes of normal time left, Stach drew a foul from Nikola Milenkovic just outside the box. The City Ground braced. Sels set his wall, adjusted his feet, tried to read it.

Stach didn’t give him a chance.

He whipped the ball over the red shirts and just beyond Sels’ fingertips, the trajectory cruelly precise. It was his fourth direct free-kick goal since the start of last season, no player in the league has more in that period, and his fifth from outside the area in that time – again, unmatched.

Forest’s resistance, and Glasner’s opening-night hopes, were gone in an instant.

Forest threaten, woodwork denies

Until that moment, the contest had been even, cagey and often decided in the air.

Leeds thought they had struck first before the half-hour. Harry Wilson, on his league debut for the club, arrived late into the box and side-footed Jayden Bogle’s low cross into the net, only to see the flag go up for offside. Dominic Calvert-Lewin, lurking onside behind him, could only watch the chance disappear.

That scare seemed to jolt Forest. They finished the first half on top, with centre-back Jair Cunha climbing highest in a crowded Leeds box and thudding a header against the post after a scramble. The City Ground roared; Leeds survived.

After the break, Glasner’s side kept leaning on wide deliveries. Ten minutes into the second half, Igor Jesus met an Ola Aina cross but could only guide his header wide. It summed up Forest’s afternoon: promising positions, no finish.

Leeds’ new faces stand up

Daniel Farke had demanded backing after steering Leeds to safety last season, eight points clear of the drop. The club responded with around £80m of investment and a clear statement of intent.

Goalkeeper James Trafford, winger Harry Wilson and Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Tarik Muharemovic all started at the City Ground – and each had a say.

Trafford, signed for a record fee for a British goalkeeper, justified the outlay early. Seventeen minutes in, Igor Jesus rose to meet a cross and seemed certain to score, only for Trafford to spring to his left and claw the header away with an athletic, full-stretch save.

Wilson, fresh from 10 goals and seven assists for Fulham last season, was sharp and constantly involved. His big moment, though, went begging: he cut across Bogle’s low ball and finished, only to realise he had strayed offside, with Calvert-Lewin onside and better placed behind him.

Muharemovic, meanwhile, produced Leeds’ first real test of Sels. On 70 minutes, he powered a header on target from a set-piece, forcing the Forest keeper into action and signalling that Leeds were starting to turn the screw.

The pressure finally told with Stach’s free-kick.

Early marker laid down

For Forest and Glasner, this was a harsh introduction. They matched Leeds for long spells, hit the post, and saw Trafford deny them at key moments. Yet they left with nothing.

For Leeds, it was exactly the kind of away performance Farke will want to bottle. Solid, patient, disciplined – and decided by the quality of a player who has become one of the league’s most reliable set-piece specialists.

These two will do it all again at the City Ground in the Carabao Cup second round on Tuesday, 25 August. Same venue, same managers, same cast of new signings.

After Stach’s late strike and a winning start, how high will Leeds dare to aim this season?