Highlights: Premier League: Arne Slot Faces Reality Check in Nottingham Forest Defeat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALurPxex7bM

New Liverpool manager Arne Slot faced his first setback as his team surprisingly fell 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Saturday. In contrast, Manchester City continued their perfect start to the season with a 2-1 victory.

Forest had not won at Anfield since 1969, but Callum Hudson-Odoi’s 72nd-minute curling shot past Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson secured the three points, moving Nuno Espirito Santo’s side into the Premier League’s top five.

Erling Haaland, who had been granted compassionate leave earlier in the week, returned to action for Manchester City with two goals. Despite Brentford taking the lead after just 22 seconds, City rallied to win 2-1. City, the reigning champions, sit at the top of the table with 12 points from four matches. Liverpool remains on nine points, level with third-placed Aston Villa, who staged a dramatic comeback to beat Everton 3-2 with a stunning late goal from Jhon Duran.

Brighton & Hove Albion, held to a 0-0 draw at home by newly promoted Ipswich Town, are on eight points alongside Forest. Meanwhile, Manchester United’s new signing Matthijs de Ligt opened his account for the season, and Marcus Rashford netted his first goal since March in a comfortable 3-0 win at Southampton, who remain without a point.

Liverpool had started the season strong with three wins under Slot, but their momentum was halted by Forest. Reflecting on the defeat, Slot expressed frustration: “The result is disappointing, and we cannot be satisfied with how the game played out. It was stop-start, and we didn’t create enough chances. We lost the ball too many times around their area; it simply wasn’t good enough.”

For Nottingham Forest, the result brings hope for a better season after two years of battling relegation. Espirito Santo’s side executed a well-planned strategy to frustrate Liverpool and claimed victory when Anthony Elanga’s cross-field pass found Hudson-Odoi, who cut inside and fired past Alisson.

Manchester City, who are facing an independent tribunal next week over 115 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules (which the club denies), were initially stunned as Brentford scored within the first minute at the Etihad. Yoane Wissa gave the visitors the lead, but Haaland soon took control. He equalized with his second touch of the game in the 20th minute and then scored the winner by muscling through Brentford’s defense following an Ederson clearance. Although Haaland missed out on a third goal, which would have made him the first player since 1946 to score three consecutive hat-tricks in England’s top flight, his tally of nine goals in four games is already more than any other Premier League team’s total this season.

Manchester United, under pressure after losing two of their first three games, secured a 3-0 victory against Southampton, moving them up to six points. Southampton’s Cameron Archer missed a penalty when the score was 0-0, and shortly after, Matthijs de Ligt opened the scoring for United, who then controlled the match.

Elsewhere, Leicester City were denied their first win of the season as Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta scored a stoppage-time penalty to salvage a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park. Leicester had gone 2-0 up thanks to goals from Jamie Vardy and Wilfred Ndidi, but Mateta’s late heroics earned Palace a point.

In another London derby, West Ham United also needed a late goal to snatch a 1-1 draw with Fulham. Raul Jimenez had given Fulham the lead, but Danny Ings scored a dramatic equalizer in the 95th minute to share the points.