NOTTINGHAM, England: Nottingham Forest produced a shock to beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
The last-place team at the start of the day secured only their second win of the season in the game at the City Ground.
Taiwo Awoniyi struck in the 55th-minute to end Liverpool’s mini-revival, which saw them beat Rangers, Manchester City and West Ham in their previous three games.
Awoniyi was on the books at Anfield for six years without ever playing for the first team, but he produced the decisive moment to lift Forest off the foot of the table.
“To score against Liverpool is a day I will never forget,” he told BBC Sport.
“I will always to be grateful to Liverpool for scouting me from Nigeria and scoring against them is amazing.”
The win eases the pressure on Forest manager Steve Cooper, who also used to coach at Liverpool.
“This is not the end, this has got to be a part of the start,” Cooper said. “We get back in on Monday and work even harder. We’ve been on a difficult run but, I told the boys, I’ve not seen them hide, shy away or sulk. I’ve seen the opposite. That’s given me reassurance.”
Forest took the lead 10 minutes into the second half when a free-kick found Steve Cook on the right-hand side. His cross was struck against the post by Ryan Yates, but Awoniyi was on hand to turn the rebound into an empty net.
Morgan Gibbs-White then saw another effort blocked by James Milner, which would have doubled the home team’s lead.
Liverpool’s fight back saw Forest goalkeeper Dean Henderson palm away a Trent Alexander-Arnold header in the final 10 minutes.
In return, Alisson denied Yates late on before Henderson stopped a powerful header from Virgil van Dijk to secure the famous win.
Liverpool were without the injured Darwin Nunez and Thiago Alcantara, who was unwell.
“The performance I can kind of explain, the result not to be honest,” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told BT Sport. “I never saw a game where one team has four or five no-brainers from a set piece where we have to finish it off.
“The way they defend we were perfectly prepared for that. We had to put the game to bed to be perfectly honest.”
Nottingham Forest shocks Liverpool in 1-0 win
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Nottingham Forest shocks Liverpool in 1-0 win
- The last-place team at the start of the day secured only their second win of the season in the game at the City Ground
- Taiwo Awoniyi struck in the 55th-minute to end Liverpool's mini-revival
Pakistan cricketers arrive in Sri Lanka to take part in T20 series ahead of World Cup
- All-rounders Shadab Khan, Rana Faheem Ashraf and pacers Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza arrived in Colombo
- Pakistan are set to play three-match series from Jan. 7-11 ahead of T20I World Cup scheduled to begin from Feb. 7
ISLAMABAD: The first batch of Pakistani cricketers have arrived in Sri Lanka to take part in a three-match T20I series scheduled to be played later this week, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Monday as the Green Shirts prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup.
According to the cricket board, Pakistani all-rounders Shadab Khan and Rana Faheem Ashraf as well as pacers Mohammad Wasim and Salman Mirza arrived in Colombo on Sunday night.
Pakistan Head Coach Mike Hesson, Bowling Coach Ashley Noffke, the fielding coach and other members of the support staff have also arrived in Colombo.
“The remaining players of the national squad and other support staff members will depart from Lahore for Colombo on the afternoon of Jan. 5,” the PCB said in a statement.
Pakistan last week announced its 15-member squad for the Sri Lanka series, with Salman Ali Agha retained as captain to lead the side. Khan was recalled to the squad after recovering from a shoulder injury while uncapped batter Khawaja Nafay has also been selected in the team.
Pakistani star cricketers Haris Rauf, Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi are not part of the squad. All three were playing for the Big Bash League, with Afridi returning mid-season after suffering an injury.
All three T20Is are scheduled to be played at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium (RDICS) in Dambulla on Jan. 7, 9 and 11.
“The series will provide Pakistan an opportunity to finalize their squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, set to take place in India and Sri Lanka from 7 February to 8 March,” the PCB said last week.
SQUAD:
Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmad, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wk), Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk), Usman Tariq
