Nottingham Forest 0-1 Liverpool: Darwin Nunez saves Reds’ blushes by scoring injury time winner to open four-point gap over Manchester City in Premier League title race

Sometimes things just seem written in the stars. Of Liverpool It looks like he will drop two points and hand over the initiative Arsenal And Manchester city a step further in the title race Darwin Nunez.

The Reds had never won at the home of Nottingham Forest in the Premier League era and could easily have fallen behind had Anthony Elanga taken one of two excellent chances.

But then, in the ninth minute of stoppage time, Forest failed to clear a corner, Alexis Mac Allister crossed and Nunez – a second-half substitute – rose highest to head home.

The giddy scenes of celebration on the visitors’ bench followed one another in the away match, but Forest felt desperately sad. About a minute before the goal, play was stopped due to Ibrahima Konate’s head injury when Callum Hudson-Odoi tried to deliver a cross.

Instead of giving back possession, Liverpool played on and although the goal did not come immediately, Forest raged. After the final whistle, a member of their coaching staff was shown a red card as they surrounded referee Paul Tierney, and abuse rained from the stands.

The Reds striker headed home the winner in the ninth minute of extra time to win the match

It was desperation for Forest, who thought they had earned a crucial point in the battle against the drop

It puts Forest in greater danger as they await a possible points deduction for breaching spending rules next month, but for Liverpool, securing four trophies in Jurgen Klopp’s final season remains a possibility.

Divock Origi will always be loved at Liverpool thanks to his crucial goals, especially in the 2019 Champions League final, but he looked in the mood here against his former club.

In the 15th minute, the Belgian shook off Andy Robertson on the right side of the wood and burst into the infield, inches wide with his powerful effort from 25 yards.

At the other end, Luis Diaz’s effort deflected Andrew Omobamidele and turned past the post. Even without some key players like Mohamed Salah, Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool have continued to progress, thanks in large part to the emergence of an impressive group of academy products.

Two of these – Conor Bradley and Bobby Clark – were in the starting line-up here, while Forest left their most dangerous striker Taiwo Awoniyi on the bench, and the Nigerian would certainly have taken advantage of the opportunity presented to Anthony Elanga midway through the first half.

Seconds after Alexis Mac Allister had converted a good chance for the Reds, Origi sent Elanga racing past Virgil van Dijk for Caoimhin Keller to keep the effort out with his feet.

Liverpool tried to make Forest pay immediately. Clark gathered on the edge of the penalty area and when his effort hit Omobamidele, Luis Diaz appeared to have a tap-in. However, the Colombian’s first touch was shaky, allowing Murillo to save Forest with a fine last-ditch clearance.

In the closing moments of the half, Cody Gakpo headed Mac Allister’s chip over goal and with goalkeeper Matz Sels out of the game, Forest were relieved there was no Liverpool player to take advantage.

In the early stages of the second half it was clear that Liverpool had stepped up a gear with Omobamidele and Murillo on full force to keep them out, the former to block Robertson’s goal attempt and the latter to put his head in the way of the volley from Mac Allister. .

Both managers sent up their number 9s around the hour mark, with Klopp bringing on Darwin Nunez and Nuno Espirito introducing Santo Awoniyi. Nunez quickly took action and fired into the side netting before Elanga missed his second glorious chance of the match.

Callum Hudson-Odoi slipped in for Harry Toffolo on the left and Elanga’s first-time finish at the far post wrong-footed Kelleher but slid just wide. Then Awoniyi found himself running towards the visitors’ centre-backs but getting confused in front of the goal.

Now the game opened up and when Neco Williams was robbed in midfield by Mac Allister, Gakpo should have done better than going wide from the corner.

Bobby Clark was handed a starting spot for Liverpool as the Reds continued to rely on their young stars

Jurgen Klopp watches as his team struggled to beat a stubborn Forest team

For long periods of the match, Forest frustrated the Premier League leaders at The City Ground

As his team struggled to break through, Klopp became irritated and had to be reprimanded by Tierney after a particularly animated reaction when Forest won a free-kick after a foul on Dominguez.

Luis Diaz was also unable to provide relief, as he shot wide from the edge of the penalty area. Kelleher was still as safe as ever in Liverpool’s goal and made a solid stop to deny Hudson-Odoi.

Jayden Danns replaced Gakpo and soon claimed a penalty when Forest substitute Danilo appeared to bundle him in from a corner. If Danns was unlucky there, he might have been lucky enough to only get a yellow card when he lunged at Sels and flattened him, even though the Ranger had the ball in both hands.

With eight minutes of stoppage time indicated, a sliding Nunez just failed to reach Kostas Tsimikas’ low cross and Hudson-Odoi was furious when Awoniyi failed to spot his point after pinching possession from Wataru Endo in midfield.

Forest were spared the ultimate punishment thanks to Sels, who showed excellent reflexes to keep his team level after a deflection off Murillo’s shoulders.

Forest pushed again and won a corner when Gibbs-White’s low drive was blocked by Virgil van Dijk, but should have done better with an excellent counter-attacking chance. Then came the controversy, the anger and the winning goal. How important can this be in May?