Nottingham Forest vs Luton Town. Premier League.
The City GroundAttendance29,361.
Report and highlights as Nottingham Forest and Luton Town drew 2-2 at the City Ground; Chris Wood's earlier double had put hosts on course for the win; late strikes from Chiedozie Ogbene and Elijah Adebayo earned the visitors a draw; Hatters move up to 17th; Forest are 15th in the table
Sunday 22 October 2023 12:52, UK
Luton Town scored twice late on, including an injury-time effort from Elijah Adebayo, to come back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at Nottingham Forest.
The home side had appeared to be cruising to all three points at the City Ground thanks to a second-half double from striker Chris Wood.
But Steve Cooper's side took their eye off the ball in the closing stages, allowing Chiedozie Ogbene to give the visitors hope of an unlikely point with seven minutes to go, before substitute Adebayo's last-gasp intervention, with Hatters boss Rob Edwards saying of his striker: "He's got these little moments of magic in him."
As a result, Luton move out of the bottom three and up to 17th place in the Premier League, while Forest are 15th in the table.
The last time these two sides met in the top flight was April 1992, Luton's last season in the top flight before they won promotion back to the Premier League last time out, although in truth they were second best for much of this contest.
Forest should have been ahead at the break, only for Wood to prove prolific in front of goal, especially when he somehow placed a header over the bar just before the interval, before Ibrahim Sangare conjured up an even worse miss in first-half stoppage time, side footing wide of a gaping goal.
The deserved Forest breakthrough did eventually arrive three minutes into 6the second half, though, after a neat move involving Morgan Gibbs-White and then the impressive Anthony Elanga, who slipped in Wood, with the striker holding off Reece Burke before finding the net.
And when the New Zealand striker glanced in another Elanga centre with 14 minutes to go, the game appeared over as a contest, only for the newly promoted side to stun their hosts late on.
First Ogbene's neatly taken volley gave the Hatters hope with seven minutes left, albeit after a long VAR check for offside, before the almost inevitable equalizer two minutes into injury time as Adebayo held off fellow sub Joe Worrall, before lashing home to spark wild scenes in the away end.
Forest boss Steve Cooper:
"It's disappointment in the end. We dominated the game and we're disappointed we weren't leading by one or two goals at half-time.
"We obviously got the early goal in the second half and then made it 2-0 and it all changes on a set-piece, which we defended terribly really.
"Of all Luton's threats off set-plays, it was the worst delivery of the day and ends up in the back of our net and that's where the momentum changes.
"It's a real pity because of the way we had played for however long it was before their first goal went in because it was a comfortable game for us."
Luton boss Rob Edwards:
"It was a great goal. He's [Adebayo] got those moments. He came on against Burnley and got his goal and he's done it again today.
"He's got these little moments of magic in him. The assist he got at Sheffield United, the assist at Wembley. He's had big moments for us Eli since we've been here.
"He was frustrated not to start the game as I would expect, but that's what you've got to do when you come on. That's what I want. He gives me a difficult decision to make next week.
"I'm really proud of the players. The spirit, the fight and determination.
"We finish the game strongly. We will never give up, we will always keep fighting.
"We're where we expected to be. Nobody expects us to be top four. We're where we expected to be, in the fight we expected to be in. We're comfortable with it."
Analysis by Sky Sports' Richard Morgan:
Forest's profligacy in front of goal cost them all three points against Luton at the City Ground on Saturday and Cooper's side will need to sharpen up in attack if they want to avoid another relegation battle this season.
The home side have been leading at half-time after both Wood and Sangare spurned guilt-edged chances, something Cooper alluded to at full-time: "It's disappointment in the end. We dominated the game and we're disappointed we weren't leading by one or two goals at half-time."
And even after the New Zealand striker had put Forest 2-0 up with two well-taken goals, the hosts still missed further openings to bury Luton.
In fact, Forest recorded their highest xG total since their return to the Premier League in 2022 (2.85) after having 19 shots, attempting more efforts at goal on only one occasion across that period (20 vs Bournemouth in January this year).
And yet a lack of concentration at the back in the closing stages let the visitors back into the contest and three points became just one as Forest drew at home for a third game in a row for the first time since April 2013 in the Championship.
Forest are next in action on Sunday October 29 when they travel to Liverpool; kick-off 2pm.
Meanwhile, Luton are also back in action on Sunday October 29 when they travel to Aston Villa; kick-off also 2pm.
