Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth. Sky Bet Championship.
The City Ground.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth at the City Ground as Jonathan Woodgate extended his unbeaten run at Cherries caretaker to three games after a goalless draw.
Saturday 13 February 2021 17:35, UK
Jonathan Woodgate extended his unbeaten run as Bournemouth caretaker to three games as his side were frustrated by Nottingham Forest in a 0-0 draw at the City Ground.
In a game of few chances, the Cherries failed to register a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes, while the majority of the chances Forest did muster were relatively simple for Asmir Begovic to deal with.
With 11 minutes to play, however, Glenn Murray went close to following up his double against Wycombe last weekend with a near-post header, which was cleared by Ben Pearson on the line.
Chris Hughton's Forest move up to 16th, five points above the relegation zone, while sixth-placed Bournemouth extend their lead over the chasing back to six points.
Though challenging at opposite ends of the division, Forest came into the game on the back of a run of just one defeat since December 15 and behind only Brentford and Swansea in the form table, while Bournemouth's 3-2 win over Birmingham last Saturday ended a run of four straight defeats.
The visitors took the game to their hosts and tested Brice Samba inside two minutes when Steve Cook's nicely weighted ball forward was hooked into the goalkeeper's arms by Junior Stanislas, though they suffered an early blow when Cook was replaced by Lloyd Kelly after just five minutes, having suffered what looked like a groin injury.
At the other end of the pitch, Filip Krovinovic struck the ball straight at Begovic having been teed up by Cafu as part of an inventive free-kick routine, while the Cherries stopper was again called into action to collect Anthony Knockaert's shot from within a crowd.
Southampton loanee Shane Long couldn't keep his header down after Arnaut Danjuma's cute delivery and minutes later he was left with his head in his hands when Forest dealt with his close-range header when he thrust himself at Adam Smith's teasing cross from the right flank.
As the first half wore on, Forest became more comfortable as Woodgate's men struggled to find a rhythm and that continued into the second 45 minutes as they found breaking down their well-organised opponents an increasingly difficult task.
Murray was presented with the best chance of the second half when he connected with a corner from the left at the near post, but he was denied a third goal in two games by Pearson's knee. Nonetheless, Forest held on to pick up a valuable point and continue their record of having never lost a home league match against Bournemouth.
There has been a real improvement across the pitch for Forest since mid-December, but no more than in defence, with six clean sheets in the last 11 games compared to three in the first 18. Worrall was an embodiment of that against the Cherries, particularly given the fact the visitors failed to register a shot on target.
Nottingham Forest's Chris Hughton: "I thought we did really well. The best chance we had was through Glenn's header, which was cleared off the line. We got into some really good positions through Anthony Knockaert. His flank was our most productive area. Unfortunately we did not get enough from it when we did get into those good positions.
"As a team we are finding some good momentum, we are certainly starting to see more of what we want from the team. There will be games where the opportunities you create are very few, particularly when you are up against the kind of side we were today, this kind of quality of opposition. We are a team in form and we were up against a team that had won their last two - it felt like a draw was a fair result."
Bournemouth caretaker Jonathan Woodgate: "Forest frustrated us, we could not break them down. They have not lost many games recently and we knew it was going to be tough. We could be better creatively. But I thought we were solid. We just did not manage to produce those moments of magic up the other end of the pitch."
"We are undefeated in three games and this might be an important point going forward. I will be in charge for the Rotherham game on Wednesday, I am not thinking what will happen beyond that."
Both teams are next in action on Wednesday February 17. Nottingham Forest travel to the Liberty Stadium to face Swansea at 7pm, while Bournemouth host Rotherham at the Vitality Stadium at 8.15pm. Both fixtures are live on Sky Sports Football Red Button.
