EPL: Stach’s Late Free-Kick Snatches Leeds Win At City Ground

Late goal Sees Leeds sneak past Nottingham Forest  

Seventh Straight: New Forest boss Glasner loses PL opener as Leeds win. Late Stach stunner sees Leeds sneak past Forest.

Glasner’s Forest reign begins with defeat as Leeds win 1-0...  

Oliver Glasner became the 7th straight new Nottingham Forest manager to lose his first Premier League game as Leeds won 1-0 thanks to Anton Stach.

A late Anton Stach screamer earned Leeds a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest. It was a miserable start for Oliver Glasner, whose Forest side made it 7 straight new managers at the City Ground to lose their first Premier League game.

Both teams set up in a back three and it led to a cagey opening. The first real chance fell to Igor Jesus, but Leeds debutant James Trafford reacted well to tip his header over.

Ola Aina escaped a red card after a rash challenge. In what could be a sign of things to come, VAR opted not to intervene under the league’s new directive to reduce pitch-side reviews this season.  

The game slowly opened up and Harry Wilson thought he had marked his debut with a goal, only to be flagged offside. Forest went even closer right before half-time. Jair Cunha’s header crashed off the post and the rebound was just too high for Igor Jesus to convert.

Jesus was in the thick of it again early in the second half, heading a dangerous Aina cross wide. Chris Wood was then brought on for Dan Ndoye, and the striker missed a good opening after Murillo drove forward from defence.

Leeds had their best chance when Tarik Muharemovic met the cross, but Matz Sels produced a strong save to keep it out.

🤩 ANTON'S STUNNER WINS IT!! pic.twitter.com/4KD1U6X1g9

— Leeds United (@LUFC) August 22, 2026

A draw looked the most likely result on opening day, until Anton Stach whipped in a clever free-kick that caught Matz Sels at his near post to steal all three points for Leeds late on.

Game Flow

Glasner will be gutted. The new Forest boss had won his first game at 4 of his last 5 clubs, but this wasn’t one of them. He gets a quick shot at revenge with the EFL Cup tie on Tuesday.  

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