Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted that his team’s performance during their last-minute victory over Nottingham Forest was “the worst we’ve played.”
Slot’s players were clearly lacking at the City Ground, where former captain Jamie Carragher labeled their first-half show a “horror show.”
Despite their struggles, they secured the win when Alexis Mac Allister scored in stoppage time, just moments after having a goal denied by VAR.
Slot acknowledged that they didn’t deserve the three points, as they were outplayed by Forest, but he felt a bit of luck was warranted. “The first half was very poor, the worst we’ve played so far, I believe,” the Dutch manager said. “However, the second half showed improvement; we had better control of the game.”
“The first-half performance was not up to the standards we’ve set this season. Yet we’ve often been on the losing end after decent displays, so today, we were fortunate to get more than we deserved,” he added. “A draw would have been a more just outcome than our win.”
The match ended dramatically as Mac Allister scored in the sixth minute of added time after witnessing an earlier goal disallowed in the 89th minute.
Stefan Ortega saved a header from Hugo Ekitike, and as Ola Aina attempted to clear the rebound, it deflected off Mac Allister and into the net. However, VAR ruled that it struck his elbow, leading to the goal being disallowed.
“With VAR in play, I always hesitate to celebrate too much if I suspect something might be reviewed,” Slot said. “You can never be certain where a ball hitting the body might end up, and it seems it hit his arm.”
“Thus, the goal was disallowed. At that point, I thought, ‘Well, it seems we still have some luck left this season. There’s still a chance to go,'” he reflected.
“But perhaps fate had shifted, as just a couple of minutes later, we thought we had scored again. The referee took a long time to check, but eventually pointed to the center circle, indicating we had won the game.”
Liverpool had to alter their lineup before kick-off after Florian Wirtz experienced back pain during the warm-up.
Slot stated, “We don’t believe it’s serious, but he felt discomfort during the warm-up, and he wasn’t close to being 100%. After six to eight months in this league, he realizes that even with skill, you must be fully fit at this level, so we opted not to play him.”
“We are hopeful he can join us again next week, but you never can tell how injuries will progress.”
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The match result left new Forest manager Vitor Pereira “angry with football.”
Taking charge of his first Premier League match since replacing Sean Dyche, Pereira saw his team apply significant pressure and intensity against Liverpool.
“I’m feeling frustrated, very frustrated, angry with football,” said Pereira, who witnessed his new team secure a 3-0 win against Fenerbahce just days before. “But it’s crucial to maintain a positive mentality and return stronger and more confident for future matches.”
“In my opinion, the score was very unfair, but that’s football. We need to carry forward the positives from this match to prepare for the next one.”