Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United. Sky Bet Championship.
The City GroundAttendance27,551.
Sunday 27 December 2015 20:08, UK
Sam Byram's late effort saw Leeds seal a deserved a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest in Sunday's Championship clash at the City Ground.
Nelson Oliveira, Forest's leading scorer this season, had put the hosts ahead on 17 minutes after a mistake by Leeds defender Giuseppe Bellusci.
But the visitors steadily grew in stature and finally hit back with 10 minutes left as Byram struck from outside the box.
Chris Wood fluffed a good opportunity from close range to complete the comeback, though Oliver Burke hit the woodwork at the death for Forest as both sides had to settle for a point.
Leeds started with vigour, a Stuart Dallas shot inside two minutes dipping just wide of Dorus De Vries' post.
The visitors were camped inside Forest's half, but their early productivity was undone when Byram was booked for diving in the box, before Bellusci's mistake cost them dearly.
Matt Mills played the ball long towards Oliveira, who pounced on Bellusci's failed attempt at an overhead clearance, and then slotted home when goalkeeper Marco Silvestri slipped when trying to charge off his line.
Forest's counter-attacking play was causing trouble, as Leeds saw their forays countered by a home defence sitting deep.
Wood seemed isolated up front, and at the other end, Ryan Mendes was showing great pace to link up with the likes of Oliveira and Chris O'Grady.
Oliveira's left-footed shot from range flew just wide of Silvestri's left post, before Leeds' chance came via Wood, who could only head well over from a Charlie Taylor cross.
It was the same story after the break with Leeds once again holding possession well but Forest showing greater attacking threat, Oliveira winning and taking an early free-kick that was just over.
The hosts continued to counter well, as O'Grady's header from a corner needed a goal-line clearance from Luke Murphy. Ward's long-range effort soon needed to be expertly tipped over by Silvestri.
It was almost out of the blue that Leeds got their equaliser, with Souleymane Doukara laying off for Byram, who fired home from outside the box to silence the home crowd.
That was Leeds' cue to show some good interplay, with Forest tiring, although Wood somehow contrived to scuff a chance when played in by substitute Mirco Antenucci.
Then, with time running out, substitute Burke produced a great effort for Forest, only to see his shot hit a post.
Nottingham Forest manager Dougie Freedman said:
"I feel a bit disappointed we didn't take the opportunities to kill the game off. We decided about 50/60 minutes into the game to open it up and that increases our chances of winning but also increases our chances of losing. In the Championship, three points is big and that's what we tried to do."
Leeds United manager Steve Evans said:
"I reflect on the game really positively. For all our dominance, we were subject to a mistake on the break-away and we said to the players at half time 'just win the second half' and I thought some of our play in the second period was exceptional. We opened them up a number of times and on another day, we go in front and win the game."
