Lamouchi relieved as Leeds waste chances to beat his Forest side

Posted Saturday, August 10, 2019 by PA

Nottingham Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi admitted his side rode their luck in a 1-1 Sky Bet Championship draw at Leeds.

The Reds were outplayed for large portions of the game but secured a share of the spoils despite registering just one shot on target.

Lewis Grabban’s scruffy finish cancelled out Pablo Hernandez’s opener to give Lamouchi his first point in English football.

The Frenchman said: “To play probably the best team in the league wasn’t easy, so I’d like to praise my players.

“Leeds have a lot of quality but they missed some of the passes to finish and to open the goal. Of course if they score quickly, especially here, then it would have been very difficult for us.

“After they scored, my players came back so congratulations to them. We changed a little bit and it worked.

“There are a lot of positive things. We have a lot of new players, a new manager and there’s not been much time.

“So to find the right way and to prepare the best way, we know it will be really tough for us to start with.”

Leeds bossed the clash at a sold-out Elland Road, but they failed to make their dominance count, with Patrick Bamford missing a hatful of chances throughout.

Hernandez finished coolly just before the hour mark and it looked as though Leeds would go on to win by a healthy margin, in spite of Bamford’s misses.

But Ben Watson and Michael Dawson both went close before Grabban made the breakthrough, albeit in comical fashion.

A corner was not defended by the hosts and Grabban’s untidy effort trickled over the line after Reds substitute Rafa Mir knocked it into his path.

Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa was happy with how his team fared but admits they can improve on taking their chances.

Bielsa said: “We lost two points so we are disappointed with the result, but the team is growing and not losing the ball easily.

“We didn’t receive counter-attacks today. They (Forest) scored from a corner which we gave away.

“We had a lot of chances to put the ball in the box from the sides. We had players in the box waiting for the ball. But of course this is something that we can improve.”

Bielsa refused to complain about referee Rob Jones, who waved away appeals for a spot-kick when Jack Robinson challenged Stuart Dallas in the box in stoppage time.

“It’s very difficult to be a referee,” added Bielsa. “I don’t know if it was a penalty but we had enough ways to solve the game without this.”