Jota Rescues Liverpool in Table-Topping Six-Pointer

Nottingham Forest's 1-0 victory over Liverpool in October 2022 was a rare and opportunistic moment of glory, in a season where Forest escaped relegation by the skin of their teeth.

When they repeated that result in September, few would have thought that by January, Forest would be the only team to beat Liverpool in the Premier League, and that Nuno's men would have kick-started a run which has led to an unlikely title-fight.

This time, not only had the confidence of Forest's players increased, but the respect shown by other teams in the league had too, substantially. Often, that leads to matches between teams in the title race feeling stagnant, closed; manager's prefer to not concede a goal than expose their sides to counter attacking football.

This encounter was the opposite.

At times feeling more like basketball than football, the swathes of attacks and counter-attacks, which alternated between the teams contributed to creating a spectacle of football, a performance of what the English national sport is all about.

Chris Wood opened the scoring for Forest in the first ten minutes, Elanga's incisive pass carving its path between Liverpool's formidable central defenders.

Elanga's assist paved the way to Forest's early lead

He wheeled away jubilantly, to celebrate scoring his 13th of the season, this one a low effort fired into the far bottom corner of Alisson's net.

Jota celebrates his equalising goal

From then on, the rarity of the home side's possession of the ball (and hence, chance creation) increased, with Liverpool peppering Forest's box with cross after cleared cross, not necessarily turning them into chances. That changed with substitutes Tsimikas and Jota combining with their respective first touches of the ball; Jota's movement allowed him to evade Murillo and plant the ball in Forest's net.

The rest of the match was chaotic, both sides pushing for a winner to help their cause. Nuno - who often reverts to a back five an hour into games, by bring in Morato - only changed Forest's shape with mere minutes to go, illustrating his desire to do the double over Liverpool and propel Forest into the title race.

An enthralling game, with a fair result, both teams have overachieved this season, and the two sets of Reds fans are loving life at the moment.