Nottingham Forest 0-1 Liverpool: What Pereira said

City Ground, Nottingham – Vitor Pereira’s reign as Nottingham Forest head coach began in agonising fashion as a 90th-minute Liverpool strike condemned his side to a 1-0 defeat, leaving the Portuguese to lament a result he insists “is not fair.”

Speaking to BBC Sport after the final whistle, Pereira praised his players’ first-half display, during which Forest fired 12 shots – the most any side has managed in the opening 45 minutes against Liverpool in the Premier League since Stoke City in May 2015. “We are very frustrated,” Pereira admitted. “The way we played the first half was by creating chances and not conceding anything. It was a fantastic first half.”

The turnaround in fortunes came after the interval. Forest, who had travelled four hours following a match only three days earlier, were unable to sustain the intensity. “We didn’t press properly,” Pereira said. “They won the game. In my opinion, one point was the minimum. Zero points is not fair.”

The decisive moment arrived late, and the manager pinpointed a lapse in defensive organisation. “Inside the pitch, we must put the tallest guys where their tallest guys are. That must happen inside the pitch. We didn’t. We lost the game in a small detail but we know we need to correct these kinds of things. It’s a pity.”

Despite the setback, Pereira was quick to acknowledge the City Ground faithful. “The supporters were with us until the last minute and they recognised we deserved more than this, but that is football.”

With only 13 home goals this season – fewer than every Premier League side except Burnley – and eight scoreless outings on their own turf, Forest’s attacking issues remain a concern. Yet Pereira struck an optimistic tone: “The team has talent. The players have ambition and talent. I am confident we will get points until the end of the season to move forward. One point is better than nothing. We have to come back stronger.”

The defeat also marked an unwelcome piece of history: Pereira is the first manager to lose his opening Premier League game in charge of a club to a 90th-minute-or-later goal since Nuno Espírito Santo did likewise with Forest against Bournemouth in December 2023.

Forest now have little time to dwell on the late heartbreak, with Pereira stressing the need to “prepare ourselves mentally and tactically for the next game” as the battle for survival intensifies.