It wasn’t quite the exorcism he would have wanted. But having been haunted by the Anfield defeat to Nottingham Forest for much of this season, Arne Slot can finally consign the video of that September reverse to the dustbin.
The Liverpool boss had spent much of the first three-quarters of this rematch at the City Ground being taunted by the home supporters, whose chant of “Forest, in your head” to the tune of Zombie by The Cranberries was in danger of becoming the soundtrack for a second reverse to the East Midlands side of the season after Chris Wood’s early opener.
It was all looking very much like four months previous. The Reds, their territorial dominance hampered by some strange decision-making, hadn’t managed a shot on target when, midway through the second half and with his team having won a corner, Slot gambled and threw on Kostas Tsimikas for Andy Robertson and, more intriguingly, striker Diogo Jota for centre-back Ibrahima Konate.
Not even Slot could have expected his brave decision to pay off so instantly, the delivery from Tsimikas headed in by Jota to draw Liverpool level.
Jota had been on the pitch just 22 seconds, the quickest a substitute had scored for Liverpool in the Premier League since such records started being collated almost 20 years ago.
And the frustrated reaction of Slot’s players at the final whistle, Trent Alexander-Arnold with hands on his hips and Virgil van Dijk flailing his arms, illustrated how the Reds could – and perhaps should – have gone on to win the game.
Indeed, Forest needed goalkeeper Matz Sels to produce a series of world-class saves to prevent Liverpool extending their lead at the Premier League summit to nine points.
Jota’s barnstorming display – he was among those later thwarted by Sels – was in stark contrast to the showing of Luis Diaz who, with Darwin Nunez suspended, operated as a false nine but soon became lost among the towering Forest centre-backs.
The Portuguese offered a more traditional problem that a tiring home defence just about managed to contain after the leveller. And it continued Jota’s penchant for scoring against Forest, his fifth goal in as many appearances for Liverpool in the fixture. It may be enough to earn a recall at Brentford at the weekend.
With Manchester City and Chelsea also both held to draws on the evening, only Arsenal can now make up ground on Liverpool this round of games when they entertain Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday.
The underwhelming opening hour will concern in the context of some recent under-par showings. But the character and correct tactical calls of Slot show why Liverpool remain standard bearers in the Premier League this season.
