Anton Stach continued his knack for spectacular set pieces as his 88th-minute free-kick handed Leeds United a 1-0 win at Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend of the Premier League season, putting a dampener on Oliver Glasner's first game in charge of the hosts.
The German midfielder curled a low effort from the edge of the box past goalkeeper Matz Sels at his near post, sealing a first Leeds victory at the City Ground since 1972 and giving Daniel Farke's side a platform ahead of their Carabao Cup rematch against Forest on Tuesday.
Glasner, appointed as Forest's fifth head coach in under a year, watched his new side create the better chances for long spells without finding a breakthrough. Nikola Milenkovic struck the woodwork twice, first with a glancing header from James McAtee's delivery that came back off the post with Igor Jesus unable to turn in the rebound, and later with a looping effort that goalkeeper James Trafford tipped onto the crossbar. Jesus himself squandered two headed opportunities, including an early chance from Ola Aina's long throw that Trafford saved, and another shortly after half-time that he directed wide from close range.
Leeds had a let-off in the first half when Harry Wilson thought he had opened the scoring after latching onto Jayden Bogle's pass, only for the goal to be chalked off for offside. There was also a VAR review into an Aina challenge on James Justin, which was cleared of any serious foul play.
Forest introduced Chris Wood from the bench, and the striker was played clean through by Murillo but dragged his effort wide of the target. At the other end, Sels produced a smart save to deny debutant Tarik Muharemovic, the club's £34m summer signing, whose header looked destined for the top corner.
Despite dominating large periods of the contest, Forest's profligacy proved costly when Stach stepped up to convert his free-kick with just a few minutes of normal time remaining, sparking wild celebrations among the traveling Leeds supporters.
It continued a remarkable run of form from dead-ball situations for Stach, who scored three direct free-kicks in the Premier League last season, a tally bettered only by Dominik Szoboszlai. Farke praised his midfielder's evolution as a set-piece specialist, joking about Stach's recent charity stunt of launching a burger in Leeds city centre.
"He even released a burger a few days ago and I never expected him to do this," Farke said. "He's a bit of a weird and crazy guy. I expected when he was over the free-kick that he could do something special. He has done it time and time again. He surprised me last season, but now I trust him with everything. Last season, I would have never thought about it."
Farke also reflected on the growing importance of set pieces in the modern game, name-checking historic examples to underline his point. "There is not one team who won the World Cup without a set-piece goal," he said. "I remember Germany 12 years ago, a crap quarter-final game against France: Mats Hummels header, boom, goal. I remember magic free-kick takers: Juninho, who got this crazy curve on the ball. It is always a major part of the game, not just nowadays. Anton is perhaps not as beautiful on the eye like Juninho's free-kicks, but bloody effective, and I quite like it."
Glasner, who kept marquee signing Ousmane Diomande on the bench and used a late substitution to introduce Xaver Schlager, was pragmatic in his post-match assessment despite the disappointing result. "It was pretty clear that I can't come with my staff, lay our hands on the shoulders of the players, and all of a sudden we play like Real Madrid in the 70s or whatever," he said. "It was an OK performance from both teams – a typical first Premier League game after a long break, and this is also now not the time to bury our heads into the sand."
Both sides will have a swift chance to build on Saturday's result when they meet again in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
Based on reporting from Guardian Football and Independent Football.