Stach Strikes in the 88th Minute to Break Forest Hearts

Anton Stach produced a moment of magic in the 88th minute to hand Leeds United a dramatic 1-0 victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on the opening weekend of the Premier League season. The German midfielder squeezed his free-kick through the arms of Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels, snatching all three points for a Leeds side that had been second-best for long stretches of the contest.

Stach placed his free-kick from just outside the left corner of the box into the bottom-left corner with too much power for Sels to keep out, despite the Forest keeper getting a hand to the ball. It was a cruel blow for the hosts, who had created the better chances and controlled possession but ultimately failed to find a way through.

Morgan Gibbs-White had a late opportunity to salvage a point with a 20-yard free-kick from a central position in stoppage time, but he was unable to find the target, condemning Forest to yet another opening-day defeat.

Forest Made to Pay for Missed Chances

Forest will rue a series of missed opportunities that could have put the game to bed long before Stach's late intervention. The hosts were the more dangerous side in the first half and were denied an opener when Igor Jesus' header was clawed out of the bottom-right corner by Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford with 17 minutes played.

Nikola Milenkovic then struck the woodwork with a header before the break, while Igor Jesus failed to steer his back-post chance on target in the 55th minute. Tarik Muharemovic also forced Trafford into an important save with a header in the 70th minute, but Forest's profligacy would ultimately prove costly.

Harry Wilson had a goal ruled out for offside in a moment where he might have left the ball for the onside Dominic Calvert-Lewin, and referee Robert Jones showed Ola Aina a yellow card after a lunge on James Justin – with VAR determining no further action was required, much to the frustration of the Leeds bench.

Farke Demands Sustained Progress Despite Promising Start

Leeds boss Daniel Farke was understandably delighted with the result but refused to get carried away, insisting there is still a long road ahead for his side.

"It's still a long road," Farke told Sky Sports. "We need to collect 40 points, we are not naive. The last time this club was able to have two solid seasons at this level, you will perhaps find it in black and white photos. But I'm very happy with the result. Especially an away win at a very difficult ground and a tight game. A clean sheet too."

"It was a game of different periods, we started on front foot. Both teams had situations where they put pressure on the opponent. But we won this game because we defended well. It could have gone the other way, but I'm happy we can convert our pre-season form into the season."

Leeds have now won their opening Premier League game for the third successive campaign, marking their joint-longest run in the top-flight, having also done so from 2000-01 to 2002-03. The Whites have won five of their last eight Premier League games (D2 L1), with only Arsenal (18) collecting more points in the top-flight since the start of April than their 17.

Farke Hails Stach's Set-Piece Prowess

Farke was full of praise for match-winner Stach, highlighting the midfielder's remarkable record from dead-ball situations.

"We talk so much about set pieces nowadays being important, but they always were," Farke said. "We wanted players there who had good deliveries. Anton is perhaps not as beautiful as Juninho, but he is bloody effective."

Stach's five goals from outside the box is more than any other player has managed in the Premier League since the start of last season, while no player has more goals from direct free-kicks in that time than his four.

Glasner Left to Rue Defeat in First Forest Game

For Oliver Glasner, the defeat marked a disappointing start to his tenure as Forest head coach. The Austrian agreed to become Forest's fifth head coach in under a year after the club dispensed with the services of Vitor Pereira in July, who had steered them away from relegation.

"Everybody gave their best," Glasner told Sky Sports. "The players worked very hard, intense and wanted to get the win. We're learning from this defeat. We're at the beginning of this journey and not burying our heads in the sand. Unfortunately, we lost, but I saw many encouraging things today. This is the way we decided to go, this is the way we continue to go."

Forest lacked cohesion despite controlling prolonged periods of the match, managing to hit the target just twice from their 12 efforts on goal, with a cumulative expected goals (xG) value of 0.65. That total was still higher than Leeds' 0.49 xG, and Forest also had more of the possession at 55.2%, so they might feel unfortunate to have emerged empty-handed.

There were some signs that Glasner's rapid ball progression was taking hold, particularly through centre-back Murillo and Ibrahim Sangare in midfield, with the duo combining for 19 line-breaking passes – five of the Brazilian's nine coming in the final third.

Forest have now lost the opening match of a league season in six of their last eight campaigns (W1 D1), while they have only won one of their last 12 home league matches (D7 L4). However, they will have a swift chance to make amends when the two teams meet again at the City Ground on Tuesday in the second round of the EFL Cup.