Ansarifard seals Nottingham Forest’s first away win since November [VIDEO]
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Loading...NottinghamshireLive – LONDON, The Reds’ dismal away run came to an end in their final road trip of the Championship season.
A well-taken goal from Karim Ansarifard and a dramatic penalty save from Costel Pantilimon helped Nottingham Forest claim their first away win since November, courtesy of a 1-0 success at Queens Park Rangers.
It was the first time since September that the Reds had won back-to-back games, as Martin O’Neill’s side followed up their home success over Middlesbrough, with a battling three points in the capital.
Ansarifard netted the game’s only goal ten minutes into the second half, following a sharp passing move.
But it still required some brilliance from the Reds’ Romanian keeper, who kept out Nahki Wells spot kick in the 89th minute, to help secure victory.
There was one change to the Forest side, with Pele ruled out with injury, following the 3-0 drubbing of Middlesbrough on Monday.
Sam Byram came into the starting XI to slot into the right wingback role, with Matty Cash moving into a midfield role, to fill the void left by Pele, alongside Ryan Yates.
Ben Osborn continued as left wingback, with Molla Wague, Alex Milosevic and Jack Robinson making up the three-man central defence.
The attacking trio remained the same, with Joe Lolley and Joao Carvalho playing just behind lone striker Karim Ansarifard.
Lolley won an early corner for the Reds, but his delivery was, for once, lacking in quality, as his cross was cleared with ease at the near post.
It was Ansarifard who was to provide the first real threat for Forest.
He chased a hopeful ball down the middle and, after it had bounced awkwardly, was a whisker away from beating Joe Lumley to it, as the keeper made a desperate clearance, just outside his box.
The Iranian striker quickly resumed his duel with the QPR stopper, as he ghosted into the box down the right side, latching onto a great ball from Lolley, before angling in a low shot across goal, that the keeper pushed away brilliantly, diving low to his right.
Geoff Cameron rose highest to connect with a header in the centre, after Robinson had conceded a free kick on the Forest right, but the effort was always flying high over Pantilimon’s goal.
A foul by Milosevic gave QPR a free-kick in a dangerous position right on the edge of the box, but Ryan Manning’s curling effort was bent narrowly the right side of the post, from Forest’s point of view.
Carvalho had a pop from 22 yards or so, but his shot was always drifting wide of the target, as several of his teammates complained at him for not delivering a cross into the centre instead.
Tomer Hemed attempted an overhead kick for the home side but, while it looked spectacular, it was still a relatively simple save for Pantilimon, who was well positioned.
When Carvalho picked out an overlapping run from Byram with a crossfield pass, it got Forest into a great position, but Byram’s attempt to pick out Ansarifard with a cross, was well cleared.
Pantilimon had to make an alert save at the other end, as Ebere Eze let fly with a shot from the edge of the box.
A lovely dinked pass from Lolley sent Ansarifard racing clear and he took his time before letting fly with a shot. Lumley got a hand to it, which was enough to guide the ball onto the bar and the keeper recovered quickly to pounce on the loose ball, before the striker could get there.
Yates was the first player booked in the game, with referee Scott Duncan appearing to indicate that it was for a cumulative number of fouls.
It had been a closely contested first half, but the two best chances had fallen to Forest and Ansarifard, but the striker had been denied by Lumley on both occasions.
The second half began with QPR forcing two corners in quick succession, but Forest held firm.
And it was Forest who were to take the lead in the 55th minute, following a flurry of sharp passing on the edge of the box.
Lolley and Carvalho were both involved, with Carvalho slotting the final ball through for Ansarifard, who this time gave Lumley no chance, with a composed, emphatic finish in front of the 2,367 travelling fans.
QPR made a sub as Lewis Walker, brother of Forest striker Tyler, was replaced in the 59th minute.
Pantilimon had to make a big save to keep Forest ahead almost immediately, after Hemed had snuck in around the back of the Reds defence to unleash a powerful shot.
The big keeper pulled off more heroics when Hemed connected with a close range header at the keeper’s near post, which Pantilimon kept out with impressive reactions.
Forest made their first change as Ansarifard was replaced by Lewis Grabban in the 64th minute.
Massimo Loungo was close to a spectacular equaliser, but saw his powerful, driven effort fizz wide. Carvalho responded with a clever effort at the other end, which dropped over the angle of post and bar.
Lumley was called into action again as he parried a shot from Grabban, while Carvalho saw his effort blocked, as he looked to pounce on the rebound.
The two sides were trading blows at this point and Pantilimon had to push away a powerful strike from Eze, following a corner.
QPR introduced two fresh strikers off the bench, in the form of Matt Smith and Nahki Wells, in the final 15 minutes.
The two subs combined immediately, with Smith heading down for Wells, but Wells fired a half decent opportunity wildly over the bar.
Forest made a double change of their own as Adlene Guedioura and Claudio Yacob came on for Carvalho and Cash, with nine minutes of normal time left.
There was time for more drama as Robinson was judged to be guilty of a handball in the penalty area, against his former club.
Wells stepped up to take the penalty and hit it well enough, to Pantilimon’s left – but the big keeper got across brilliantly, diving at full stretch, to make an outstanding save and preserve the Reds’ advantage, in the 89th minute.
Lolley could have killed the game off after being fed by Grabban in injury time. The winger still had work to do, but glided into the penalty area after leaving two defenders in his wake – only to shoot over the bar.
Forest were able to hold on through four minutes of injury time to claim what felt like a meaningful victory, in their final away game of the season.
