Report: Gibbs-White goal denies Saints on St Mary's homecoming
A solitary goal from Morgan Gibbs-White denied St Mary’s its happy homecoming, as Premier League football returned to Southampton with a narrow defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The visitors were the more threatening side in the first period, forcing a couple of early saves from Alex McCarthy before defender Nikola Milenković inexplicably fluffed his lines when the goal was gaping.
Saints improved after the interval, but their growing confidence was punctured by Gibbs-White’s match-winning moment 20 minutes from time, as the midfielder gobbled up the rebound after his initial header rebounded back into his path.
Russell Martin named an unchanged team from the side that competed so impressively at Newcastle on the opening weekend, with former Blackburn duo Adam Armstrong and Ben Brereton Díaz continuing to lead the line.
That meant Martin’s shiny new pair of 20-year-old midfielders, Lesley Ugochukwu and Mateus Fernandes, would have to settle for a place on the bench, as Nathan Wood and Carlos Alcaraz missed out completely.
“Pride of the South” read the banner that greeted the Saints players as they emerged from the tunnel to a wall of noise, particularly from the fully safe standing Northam end, which Martin hopes will inspire his players this season.
But it was Forest who settled quicker. Jan Bednarek’s pass to Jack Stephens was seized upon by Anthony Elanga, whose cutback was not struck cleanly by Chris Wood.
Less than a minute later, Alex McCarthy was making another save when Callum Hudson-Odoi slipped the ball through for Nico Williams, who was thwarted from a tight angle by the sprawling Saints stopper.
A giant flag from the all-standing Northam Stand welcomed Saints on to the field
Adam Armstrong was the first player to go into the book, 11 minutes in, for bringing down Ola Aina, whose run and cross set up Wood for another chance five minutes later, but the cross lacked pace, leaving the striker unable to generate sufficient power to beat McCarthy, who was well positioned again.
In between was a foraging run from Joe Aribo and a Kyle Walker-Peters shot that deflected behind for a corner, but Saints would have to work hard for a foothold.
Forest old boy Brereton Díaz, whose career started at the City Ground, was fortunate to escape a booking, while Flynn Downes was inexplicably cautioned for winning the ball, adding to the noise inside St Mary’s.
But Forest remained in the ascendancy. Ibrahim Sangaré’s deflected effort dropped just over, while Gibbs-White uncharacteristically snatched at a half-chance in the box.
Perhaps the visitors’ best chance fell to Milenković when Saints struggled to clear a corner, allowing Wood time to take the ball on his chest and drive a volley across goal that seemingly just needed a touch, but when Milenković provided it, he could only steer the ball wide from three yards.
Saints responded with a driving run infield from Walker-Peters, right across the face of the 18-yard line until space opened up for a shot that the defender hit into the arms of goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Kyle Walker-Peters's frequent bursts from left wing-back gave Forest cause for concern
Importantly, McCarthy’s clean sheet remained intact by half time, and Saints were far better after the restart.
The constant raids from Walker-Peters down the left were a worry for Forest, with the flying full-back scythed down by Wood on the hour in a sign of the visitors’ growing frustration as Saints grew into the game.
Martin’s men quickened the tempo, quick to take free-kicks in the middle third of the pitch, where the influence of Downes was growing.
But it was Forest who struck first despite showing so much less as an attacking force since the interval.
When a right-wing corner was initially headed clear, Williams won the ball from Aribo, who claimed a foul on the edge of the box, but play continued, affording Hudson-Odoi the space to cross for Gibbs-White at the far post.
As McCarthy stooped to his right to repel Gibbs-White’s header, Yukinari Sugawara attempted to clear the danger in front of him, but only succeeded in returning the ball to Forest’s talisman, who gleefully accepted the second invitation.
Elanga might have compounded Saints’ woes with a killer second soon after, only to be denied by McCarthy, who then dived to his left to keep out Hudson-Odoi’s curler.
Martin reacted with a couple of double substitutions – first Samuel Edozie and Cameron Archer, and then Charlie Taylor and Mateus Fernandes, who were both making their debuts – as the game entered its final 15 minutes.
Taylor threatened to force an own goal when Aina’s awkward clearance looped into the air from a fierce low cross, while Fernandes looked at home in his new surroundings, quickly assuming set-piece duties, but there was no way through in front of the Northam Wall.
Southampton: McCarthy, Sugawara (Archer 72), Harwood-Bellis (Taylor 76), Bednarek, Stephens (captain), Walker-Peters, Downes, Smallbone (Dibling 84), Aribo (Fernandes 76), Brereton Díaz, Armstrong (Edozie 72).
Unused substitutes: Lumley, Bree, Ugochukwu, Amo-Ameyaw.
Booked: Armstrong, Downes, Bednarek.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Williams, Milenković, Murillo, Aina, Anderson (Domínguez 75), Sangaré (Yates 66), Elanga, Gibbs-White (captain) (Jota Silva 90+2), Hudson-Odoi (Boly 90+2), Wood (Awoniyi 75).
Unused substitutes: Miguel, Omobamidele, Toffolo, da Silva Moreira.
Goals: Gibbs-White (70’).
Booked: Sangaré, Wood, Domínguez.
Referee: Sam Barrott.
Attendance: 31,150.
