Nottingham Forest 1 Burnley 1: Callum Hudson-Odoi’s spectacular goal earns a point as Kompany’s 10 men hunt first win
ENGLAND cricket superstars Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson watched their favourite teams battle out an entertaining draw as Burnley picked up their first point of the season.
But Clarets fan Anderson will feel his favourites were denied a deserved first win after Lyle Foster’s late ‘winner,’ was controversially ruled out for a handball decision against Sander Berge in the build-up.
And worse was to follow for the Burnley striker when Foster was sent off for losing his cool and lashing out with an elbow at Ryan Yates, who had been holding him during a tussle.
Anderson watched on with his Forest supporting pal Broad as Foster headed for the pavilion for violent conduct four minutes into stoppage time – and will now miss three games.
That decision was an easy one for ref Rob Jones, who Forest named and shamed for his controversial VAR decisions against Manchester United recently.
But Forest owed him a debt of gratitude for the handball decision against Berge which seemed harsh.
Vincent Kompany might have been willing to settle for a point prior to kick-off to get Burnley’s season off the mark at a difficult away venue.
But James Trafford started his time-wasting a little too early as he was booked with just 11 minutes on the clock for taking 36 seconds over a free-kick!
That must qualify for the earliest booking for time-wasting this season.
It certainly infuriated Kompany and his assitant Craig Bellamy who felt referee Robert Jones could have at least warned the ‘keeper to speed it up before reaching for his yellow card.
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But generally the Burnley pair must have been happy at how their side settled into their groove early on.
They took the game to Forest and Lyle Foster got on the front foot, whipping in a low shot after four minutes which Matt Turner comfortably saved.
If anything Burnley were a little over-confident at times as they played out from the back.
Jordan Beyer was caught in possession by Taiwo Awoniyi who fed Callum Hudson-Odoi, however the Forest new boy’s shot was safely dealt with by Trafford.
Steve Cooper had fielded an adventurous line-up with four attack-minded players, Anthony Elanga, Morgan Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi playing off in-form striker Awoniyi
Yet too often their final pass lacked precision and it was Burnley who gained the upper hand.
Forest were handed a warning after 29 minutes when Turner rescued them with a super save.
Luka Koleosho picked out Zeki Amdouni whose fiercely hit low shot was arrowing towards the bottom corner of Forest’s net until Turner got down sharply to push it away at full stretch.
Forest’s frustration spilled over with bookings for Mangala and new signing Gonzalo Montiel, who was finding Koleosho a real handful.
In between Josh Cullen flashed a wicked low cross across the face of Forest’s goal but Joey Gudmundsson couldn’t get on the end of it.
However, Burnley’s pressure finally paid off when Kompany’s men seized the lead four minutes before half-time with a quite brilliant goal.
Once again 19-year-old Koleosho was too hot for Forest to handle as he left Montiel, then Joe Worrall for dead as he skipped round the back of the Reds’ defence.
He picked out Foster who fluffed his attempted shot but the loose ball fell to Amdouni who rifled his shot past a helpless Turner.
The 22-year-old signed from Basel, was once dubbed the Swiss Messi and his goal would have been one the great man himself would have been delighted to score.
Forest were rattled and Montiel, a teammate of Messi when Argentina won the World Cup in Qatar, was hooked eight minutes after the break as Cooper moved Aina to right-back to deal with Koleosho.
It paid off as his reshuffled side drew level just beyond the hour as Callum Hudson-Odoi celebrated his home debut with a peach of an equaliser.
Ibrahim Sangare’s long ball was taken down by Awoniyi’s chest and the big striker laid the ball into the path of Hudson-Odoi who curled a stunning shot which flew in off the inside of Trafford’s far post.
It was a sensational strike and, although VAR checked for a handball by Awoniyi, the goal rightly stood.
Forest were now piling forward and Burnley survived a strong penalty claim as Morgan Gibbs-White crashed a shot which flew off Cullen’s arm.
Burnley thought they had won it with 14 minutes remaining when sub Sander Berge charged the ball down and raced beyond McKenna.
The midfielder squared perfectly for Foster who slammed his shot beyond Turner to spark bedlam in the Burnley end.
However their wild celebrations were cut short when VAR Darren England invited ref Rob Jones to have another look.
And ironically, the referee who Forest called out over his VAR handling of their game against Manchester United, came to Cooper’s side’s rescue this time.
He harshly judged Berge had deliberately used his arm to knock the ball past McKenna – a decision Burn;ey will hotly dispute.
