The nature of Nottingham Forest’s season means there will undoubtedly still be twists and turns to come in the next fortnight, off the field and on it. But the magnitude of the celebrations from Forest’s players and their hefty support here underlined what a significant result this could turn out to be.
Given the drama that has engulfed Forest in recent weeks and months, it has been almost easy to forget at times that this Premier League relegation battle could be settled on the pitch. For once, Forest let their football do the talking, albeit against the league’s worst side, to take a sizeable step towards survival.
Given this result, and those elsewhere, Forest could be safe before they next kick a ball if their appeal against the four-point deduction they suffered in March is successfully resolved in the next week. If the deduction is overturned, Luton and Burnley would be down and Forest would be safe.
But if it is not – and let’s face it, it may not be – Forest at least know their destiny lies firmly within their grasp. One more victory, given their superior goal difference over Luton, would probably be enough after two goals from Callum Hudson-Odoi and another from their captain, Ryan Yates, saw off Sheffield United.
It could have been different: nothing with Forest is ever straightforward, after all. After falling behind to an early Ben Brereton Díaz penalty, a combination of profligacy from the hosts and a string of good saves from Matz Sels kept Forest in it.
“We have to realise that in the first half we survived,” said Nuno Espírito Santo. “They were much better than us. Matz kept us in the game but the second half was totally different.”
Hudson-Odoi’s first goal, a wonderful finish past Wes Foderingham, shifted the momentum and as Nuno said, his side were far superior after the break. Yates’s first Premier League goal six minutes into the second half put them ahead. With 25 minutes remaining, Hudson-Odoi scored a carbon copy of his first to put the result beyond doubt.
“It’s an important step, a very important step – it’s not over though,” Nuno said. Sheffield United have set some unwanted records throughout this most miserable of Premier League seasons, but their latest was perhaps the most damning of all. Never before have a side conceded 100 goals in a 38-game Premier League season. Swindon managed to do it in the 1993-94 campaign, when there were 42 games, but the likelihood is that the Blades will concede even more in their final two fixtures.
Their season simply cannot end soon enough. “The old deficiencies show up at 2-1 down and 3-1 down and in the last 15 minutes we ran out of steam,” Chris Wilder said. “We weren’t good enough and we weren’t strong enough.”
Their season was summed up in this one afternoon. Brereton Díaz put them ahead from the spot but chance after chance to make it 2-0 passed the Blades by. Cameron Archer, Gus Hamer and Brereton Díaz all spurned glorious chances though as Nuno pointed out, Sels was on hand to thwart several efforts.
When Hudson-Odoi checked inside to curl past Foderingham, you felt you knew what would happen next. Sure enough, when the home side failed to clear a set-piece, Yates rifled home on the half-volley to make it 2-1.
Things got even better for the visitors as the game entered the final quarter. Once again, Hudson-Odoi cut in from the left, beating two men before finishing in sublime fashion to seal the win.
The scale of the celebrations when the third goal went in told you everything you needed to know: after so much drama, and so much uncertainty, Forest are nearly there.
