Nottingham Forest experienced a disappointing return to European home games, losing 3-2 to Midtjylland. Ange Postecoglou is still searching for his first victory as Forest's manager. The team's vulnerability
to set-pieces was evident during the Europa League match at the City Ground. Midtjylland capitalised on this weakness, scoring twice from set-pieces in the first half through Ousmane Diao and Mads Bech.
Forest managed to equalise briefly with Dan Ndoye's goal, but their troubles deepened when centre-back Murillo left the field due to injury. Chris Wood, who came on as a substitute, had two goals disallowed in quick succession as Forest intensified their efforts late in the game. Despite Elias Olafsson thwarting attempts from Neco Williams and Morgan Gibbs-White, Midtjylland sealed their win when Dario Osorio led a swift counter-attack, allowing Valdemar Byskov to score.
As fans voiced their frustration towards Postecoglou with chants of "sacked in the morning," Forest received a lifeline when VAR awarded them a penalty after Elliot Anderson was fouled by Diou. Chris Wood converted the penalty with composure, but it was insufficient to change the outcome. The pressure on Postecoglou continues to mount as Forest struggles under his leadership.
Full time. pic.twitter.com/6UyPZv0gaw Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) October 2, 2025
Postecoglou's defensive issues are not new; last season, his Tottenham side had the worst expected goals against (xGA) among non-relegated Premier League teams. In contrast, Nuno Espirito Santo's Forest were defensively solid. However, since Postecoglou took over at Forest, they have conceded more goals than any other Premier League team across all competitions.
Set-piece defending remains a significant problem for Forest. In the first half alone against Midtjylland, all seven of their shots stemmed from set plays. Their expected goals (xG) of 1.98 from these situations is the highest recorded by any team in a single Europa League match over the past five seasons.
Midtjylland's victory marks only their second win against English teams in five encounters, following a previous triumph over Manchester United in 2016.
