The Observer - 04.08.2019

Section:OBS 2S PaGe:7 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone:S Sent at 3/8/2019 19:45 cYanmaGentaYellowbla

• The Observer
  Football 04.08.19 7

Sky Bet Championship

Edwards kickstarts West

Brom’s fi ghtback at Forest

The shelf life of a manager at

Nottingham Forest is rarely long but

Evangelos Marinakis’s warning to his

latest appointment did not appear

to fill Sabri Lamouchi’s reshaped

team with too much confi dence as

West Bromwich came away with

three points thanks to Matt Phillips’s

fortuitous goal.

Aro Muric, the giant on-loan goal-

keeper, one of Forest’s eight new

signings, was at fault for both goals

as Lamouchi got off to a familiar start.

Aitor Karanka and Martin O’Neill,

his predecessors at the City Ground,

also lost their opening games so it to

be hoped the Greek shipping magnate

adds patience to enthusiasm at some

stage soon.

After Forest’s superb start , when

Matty Cash scored a fine opening

goal, West Brom asserted themselves

with some ease – and no little for-

tune, on both goals – and Slaven

Bilic’s impact after his arrival in June

was the more tangible.

Darren Moore and Jimmy Shan, in

their tenures at The Hawthorns last

season, led West Brom into the play-

offs, where they lost to Aston Villa,

but Bilic’s name was being sung with

gusto by their fans after this deserved

victory.

Forest supporters have become

accustomed to welcoming new

managers but there was a great buzz

around the ground in the early stages

as Forest got off to an ice-cream start:

lovely at fi rst but soon melting in the

August heat.

With four of Forest’s eight new

signings making their debuts, there

was an immediate indication of the

way Lamouchi wants his side to play.

Jack Robinson had a clear sight of

goal in the fi rst minute, only for the

advanced left-back to allow his shot

to be blocked.

Forest were evidently intent on

playing out from the back, with

the goalkeeper, Muric, feeding Ben

Watson, who kept dropping in, then

taking a return and chipping his

next pass into Tiago Silva beyond

the press. Eventually this led to Cash

attempting  a one-two with Albert

Adomah on to which the right-back

was allowed to advance to the edge

of the area before walloping home at

the near post.

West Brom did not appear to be

at the required pace for the start of

a season but two goalkeeping errors

contributed to them taking the lead

within the ensuing 18 minutes.

First, Kyle Edwards cut in from the

left before producing a lovely dummy

that seemed to wrong-foot the entire

defence. Going back outside Cash, the

winger struck a cross-shot without

too much apparent power only for the

ball to go underneath Muric’s dive.

The Kosovo international, on loan

from Manchester City, for whom he

played fi ve League Cup games last

season, was even more embarrassed

as West Brom took the lead in the

26th minute. Kieran Gibbs’s cross-

shot had defl ected out for a throw-in

on the opposite fl ank and the visitors

were allowed to work the ball with

ease back to Phillips.

He still appeared out of harm’s way,

however, when shaping to cross from

out on the touchline. With Robinson

attempting to intervene, the ball’s

looping trajectory put Muric off but

he should still have done better as the

ball fell into the far top corner.

At 6ft 6in, the 20-year-old might

have been expected to display more

presence and at the start of the sec-

ond half he came clattering out to fi st

away one cross.

Muric made a fine save from

Edwards but from the subsequent

corner he made a total hash from

Phillips’s delivery, missing the ball

entirely.

Lamouchi switched to the dugout

to be closer to the more^ vociferous

supporters but little else seems to

have changed for Forest.

1

NOTTM FOREST

Cash 8

2

WEST BROM

Edwards 15, Phillips 26

Peter Lansley

City Ground

Muric; Cash, Dawson,

Worrall, Robinson; Tiago

Silva (Mir 62), Watson,

Semedo (Johnson 88);

Lolley (Ameobi 72),

Grabban, Adomah

Subs not used Smith,

Ribeiro, Figueiredo,

Richardson

Johnstone; Ferguson,

Ajayi, Bartley, Gibbs

(Townsend 71); Sawyers■,

Livermore; Phillips,

Krovinovic, Edwards

(Harper 84); Zohore

(Burke 63)

Subs not used Bond,

Furlong, Leko, O’Shea

Nottingham Forest West Brom

Referee Darren England Attendance 27,592

4-3-3 4-2-3-1

Kyle Edwards is given a lift by

Kieran Gibbs after scoring West

Brom’s equaliser at the City Ground

GEORGE ODAMS/PROSPORTS/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK

1

BARNSLEY

Thomas 13

0

FULHAM

Fulham fi nd

life no easier

in Barnsley

Fulham started life back in the

Championship with a bruising

defeat thanks to Luke Thomas’s

brilliant fi rst-half solo goal.

The loss gives Scott Parker plenty

to think about as he looks for an

instant return to the top fl ight. The

Barnsley manager, Daniel Stendel,

named six new comers in his

starting line-up for their fi rst match

back in the Championship.

Parker welcomed the Wolves

loanee Ivan Cavaleiro in to the

starting XI while Alfi e Mawson was

deemed fi t and started the match

against his former club. Aleksandar

Mitrovic went close early on when

his right-foot shot curled just

over the bar from the edge of the

box after some good work from

Aboubakar Kamara.

But it was Barnsley who took the

lead thanks to a stunning piece of

play by the debutant Thomas, who

collected Mike Bä hre’s pass and

skipped past Joe Bryan before calmly

slotting under Marcus Bettinelli.

Bä hre nearly doubled the lead

shortly after, when space opened up

for the Barnsley captain allowing

him to fi re a shot at goal but

Bettinelli got down well to save.

Barnsley were on top and looked

dangerous on the break. Mallik

Wilks powered his way in to the

Fulham penalty box before laying

the ball off to Bä hre whose toe poke

trickled wide.

The second half started as the

fi rst ended; Barnsley were on top

and nearly stretched their lead when

Wilks again bullied his way into

the penalty box but his effort was

matched by Bettinelli.

As Fulham start ed to get back

into the game, they nearly equalised

through Mawson and shortly went

close again when Cavaleiro weaved

a pass through to Tom Cairney

who clipped his shot past Sami

Radlinger. It was heading towards

goal before Mads Andersen’s

intervention. Thomas nearly

grabbed his second but the shot was

turned away for a corner.

In the end it did not matter.

Fulham’s search for an equaliser was

unsuccessful and Barnsley tool all

three points. PA Media

Roundup

Evans sinks Cardiff

while Charlton

make winning start

Cardiff suffered a bloody nose on

their return to the second tier, as

Wigan pulled off a fi ne 3-2 win at

the DW Stadium.

Michael Jacobs and Josh Windass

both scored in four second-half

minutes to put Wigan 2-1 up, after

Joe Ralls had given Cardiff the

early lead. Omar Bogle levelled

for Cardiff as Neil Warnock’s side

rallied – but just as they started

chasing a winner, up popped Wales

midfi elder Lee Evans with a fi ne

long-range effort to seal Wigan’s

breathless victory.

Kadeem Harris fi red a debut goal

as 10-man Sheffi eld Wednesday

claimed a 3-1 win at Reading. After

Harris had opened the scoring,

Yakou Méïté nodded Reading back

on level terms after the break.

Just two minutes later, though,

Sam Hutchinson headed in Barry

Bannan’s cross to put Wednesday

back in front. Goalkeeper Keiren

Westwood was sent off with 10

minutes to play, but Wednesday

not only managed to hold out –

replacement forward Lucas João

fi red in a third for the visitors.

Promoted Charlton secured a

battling 2-1 win at Blackburn, with

Ben Purrington and Lyle Taylor on

target. Taylor’s close-range strike

spared Dillon Phillips’ blushes,

after the Charlton goalkeeper had

put through his own net.

Two goals in as many minutes

turned the tide for Swansea to

secure a 2-1 home win over Hull.

Kamil Grosicki had the visitors

ahead after just three minutes,

but Swansea took control after the

break, with Spanish striker Borja

Baston equalising from close range.

Mike van der Hoorn then nodded in

Nathan Dyer’s cross for the winner.

Defender Kristian Pedersen

headed home the only goal as

Birmingham edged home 1-0

at Brentford. Jed Wallace fi red

Millwall to a 1-0 home win over

Preston, with summer recruit

Connor Mahoney teeing up the

winner. And Jordan Hugill and

Eberechi Eze both found the net as

QPR saw off Stoke 2-1 at the Bet365.

Sam Clucas clawed one back late on

for Stoke, but the hosts could not

fi nd an equaliser. PA Media

Luke Thomas celebrates his solo

goal against Fulham at Oakwell

47% Possession 53%

4 Shots on Target 3

15 Total Attempts 12

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