Anton Stach struck in the 88th minute from a free-kick as Leeds United opened their Premier League season with three points from a tight game at the City Ground.
Leeds United began the new Premier League campaign with an away win on Saturday 22 August 2026, edging Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground after a close contest that had looked set to drift towards a draw.
Forest saw slightly more of the ball and produced the better chances across the afternoon, but they could not turn that advantage into a goal. Leeds stayed in the game, continued to threaten from set-pieces and found the decisive moment late on, leaving Oliver Glasner with a frustrating first league result in charge while Daniel Farke’s side took an encouraging three points.
Stach settles a tight contest late on
Forest created the clearer openings in the first half. Igor Jesus forced James Trafford into a save with a 17th-minute header, then Ola Aina tested the Leeds goalkeeper again in the 37th minute. Morgan Gibbs-White also had an effort off target before the break as the home side carried a little more of the threat.
Leeds were not controlling the match, but their route into it was visible. Set-pieces caused recurring problems, and Harry Wilson brought a save from Matz Sels shortly after the restart before Tarik Muharemović’s 70th-minute header was kept out.
Forest continued to find moments without landing the finish they needed. Gibbs-White missed again in the second half, Chris Wood came on for Dan Ndoye in the 62nd minute and later sent a shot narrowly wide, and the home side kept pushing with the game still level deep into the closing stages.
The breakthrough arrived in the 88th minute. Stach won a free-kick after a foul by Nikola Milenković and then beat Sels to give Leeds the lead, settling a match that had offered little margin either way until its final decisive turn.
That late goal gave the numbers a slightly awkward look for Forest. They finished with 54 per cent possession, 0.712 expected goals and nine shots to Leeds’ 46 per cent, 0.383 xG and seven shots, but Leeds were the more clinical side, registering three shots on target to Forest’s two.
Gibbs-White had one final chance to rescue a point in stoppage time, only to miss again. Instead, Leeds left Nottingham with the win and ended Forest’s run of four successive home league victories over them, as well as a 14-match unbeaten top-flight record for the hosts in this fixture at the City Ground.
Stach and Trafford make the decisive difference
Stach supplied the moment that separated the teams, and it was the kind of strike that fits his recent profile. The Leeds midfielder had three shots in the match and has now scored five goals from outside the penalty area since the start of last season, including four direct free-kicks in that period.
The winner should not obscure the shape of Leeds’ performance. This was a resilient away display rather than a dominant one, built on absorbing Forest pressure, surviving the better openings and carrying enough threat from dead-ball situations to keep the contest alive on their own terms.
Trafford played his part in that. Leeds’ highest-rated player on the day made one save for the clean sheet, denying Igor Jesus in the first half and helping preserve the platform for the late winner.
The defensive work in front of him was just as important. Jaka Bijol finished with eight clearances, Muharemović had six clearances to go with his headed effort on target, Joe Rodon added six more clearances, and James Justin contributed four tackles and five clearances in a back line that spent long spells protecting a narrow margin for error.
What comes next for Nottingham Forest and Leeds United?
Forest are back at the City Ground next Saturday, 29 August, when Liverpool visit for a 12:30 BST kick-off. After one match they sit 17th on zero points, although that early table position remains purely provisional.
Leeds return home on Sunday, 30 August, to face Brentford at 14:00 BST. The win leaves them fifth on three points after the opening round of fixtures.
For Forest, the immediate task is to turn territorial pressure and promising moments into goals.
