Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest Debut Ends in Heartbreak

Oliver Glasner’s Nottingham Forest tenure began with a gut punch at the City Ground – a late, curling free-kick from Anton Stach handing Leeds United a smash-and-grab win on the opening weekend.

The Austrian, Forest’s fifth manager in under a year after the sacking of Vitor Pereira last month, watched his new side scrap, compete and create just enough to believe they would take something from the game. Instead, they walked off empty-handed, undone in the 88th minute.

Stach’s dead-ball dagger

The contest had been tight, cagey and set-piece heavy. It always felt like one clean strike might settle it. Stach provided it.

With time running out, the German midfielder drew a foul from Nikola Milenkovic on the edge of the box. The City Ground held its breath. Stach, one of the Premier League’s deadliest from distance over the past year, stepped up and bent his effort over the Forest wall and inside Matz Sels’ near post, just beyond the goalkeeper’s full stretch.

It was ruthless. It was also entirely in character.

Since the start of last season, Stach has now scored five goals from outside the area – more than any other player in the league – and his tally of four direct free-kicks in that span is unmatched. This one turned what looked a solid away point into three gleaming opening-day points for Daniel Farke’s side.

Set-pieces and fine margins

The pattern of the match rarely strayed from attritional. Both sides relied heavily on dead balls to carve out chances, and for long spells, defences coped.

As the half-hour mark approached, Leeds thought they had struck first. Harry Wilson, eager to mark his debut in style, arrived in the box and guided Jayden Bogle’s low cross into the net with a neat side-foot finish. The away end erupted – briefly. The flag went up, and the goal was ruled out for offside.

That scare seemed to jolt Forest into life. They finished the first half with a flurry, centre-back Jair Cunha thudding a header against the post after a scramble in the Leeds area. It was the closest either side came before the interval, a reminder that Glasner’s team carried a threat of their own.

Forest kept pushing after the break. Ten minutes into the second half, Igor Jesus met an Ola Aina cross but could only steer his header wide. The City Ground groaned; it felt like the kind of half-chance that had to be taken in such a tight game.

Leeds, for their part, took time to seriously test Sels. When they did, it was another set-piece that did the damage. Tarik Muharemovic powered a header on target in the 70th minute, forcing the Forest goalkeeper into his first real piece of serious work. It was a warning. Stach’s late free-kick made sure Forest didn’t get a second one.

Leeds’ big summer bets show their value

Farke had demanded greater backing after Leeds finished eight points clear of the drop last season. The board responded, and this match offered an early glimpse of why the club spent around £80m to push the project on.

Goalkeeper James Trafford, winger Wilson and Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Muharemovic all started at the City Ground. All three left a mark.

Trafford, signed for a record fee for a British goalkeeper, justified the price tag within 17 minutes, flinging himself across goal to claw away a goalbound effort from Igor Jesus. It was the kind of save that underpins seasons.

Wilson, who hit 10 goals and seven assists for Fulham last term, buzzed around the Leeds front line, always looking to break lines and attack space. He will, though, replay one moment in his mind: when he latched onto Bogle’s low ball in the first half with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in an onside position just behind him. A touch or dummy for his striker might have brought a simpler finish.

Muharemovic, meanwhile, brought aerial authority at both ends, his second-half header the first serious test for Sels and a sign of the set-piece threat Leeds now possess.

Yet it was Stach, not one of the summer signings, who provided the decisive touch of class, turning a respectable draw into a statement win.

Glasner’s harsh introduction, Farke’s rising expectations

For Glasner, this was a brutal introduction to life in the Forest dugout. His side matched Leeds for long periods, created the clearer first-half chances and restricted Farke’s team to flashes rather than waves of pressure. One lapse on the edge of the box, one elite free-kick, and the story flipped.

The immediate chance for revenge comes quickly: the two clubs meet again at the City Ground on Tuesday, 25 August in the second round of the Carabao Cup. Same venue, same managers, a very different kind of pressure.

For Leeds, this start does more than just put three points on the board. It validates a summer of heavy investment and feeds the belief that last season’s mid-table safety can be a platform, not a ceiling.

If this is what they look like on day one, how high will Farke dare to aim by May?