Morgan Gibbs-White inspires Nottingham Forest to vital win after England snub
By Jonathan Veal, PA
Morgan Gibbs-White produced the perfect response to his England omission by helping Nottingham Forest to their first Premier League win since the opening day of the season.
Gibbs-White was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for next week’s World Cup qualifiers, but reminded the German of his talent with a decisive goal in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Leeds.
The midfielder’s second-half header helped end Forest’s nine-game winless streak in the league as they secured three points for the first time under head coach Sean Dyche.
It was far from pretty as they had to come from behind, Ibrahim Sangare cancelling out Lukas Nmecha’s opener for Leeds.
Elliot Anderson’s late penalty sealed a vital triumph for Forest, who have now taken four points from their last two games and look to be heading in the right direction.
They are just two points behind Leeds, who have lost four out of their last five matches.
Heroic Forest fan Stephen Crean was saluted before the game after he was involved in last weekend’s Huntingdon train incident, suffering serious injuries protecting a young girl from the attacker.
And he watched his side make a promising start as Gibbs-White, feeling like he had something to prove, had a shot turned around the post by Leeds goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
Perri was in the thick of the action and soon after produced a miraculous save as he acrobatically clawed away Igor Jesus’ shot that took a wicked deflection off Joe Rodon.
That was a big moment as Leeds went down the other end and took the lead in the 13th minute.
Forest right-back Nicolo Savona was hesitant with a clearance, allowing Brenden Aaronson to slide in Nmecha. He still had work to do, but he fired a brilliant low show into the far corner.
The home response was swift and they were level two minutes later, this time Perri not covering himself in glory. The Brazilian could only palm Dan Ndoye’s cross out to Sangare, who slotted home from 12 yards.
Hopes for a goal-fest were misplaced as the first half descended into a scrappy affair with little other goal action.
Gibbs-White did test Perri again from the edge of the area but it was a comfortable save.
Forest almost took the lead three minutes after the restart when they went from back to front quickly, Ndoye advancing to the byline and picking out Jesus, whose shot was blocked by the legs of Jayden Bogle.
They were knocking on the door and Gibbs-White burst through it in the 68th minute, perfectly glancing home Omari Hutchinson’s cross from the right.
Leeds pushed for an equaliser and almost found it in the 79th minute as Dan James’ curling effort was beaten away by Matz Sels, with Bogle somehow putting the follow-up wide.
England midfielder Anderson killed the game from the spot in the 90th minute after the lively Hutchinson was fouled by Jack Harrison.