Ange Postecoglou remains winless across his first five games as Nottingham Forest boss following a controversial 1-0 defeat to Sunderland.
The 60-year-old Australian greeted the City Ground crowd for the first time before kick-off but come full-time, the atmosphere had soured as Postecoglou and his players were booed off after the whistle had blown.
The defeat, which dropped Forest down to 16th in the Premier League table, arrives on the same day his predecessor, Nuno Espirito Santo, was confirmed as the next head coach of West Ham.
The only goal of the afternoon was clouded by controversy after the visitors scored from a free-kick, which came as a result of Nicolas Dominguez being penalised for simulation outside his own penalty area.
Dominguez, making his first appearance since May, cleared the ball away for his side before seemingly being caught by Trai Hume on the follow-through.
The midfielder was shown a yellow card by referee Tony Harrington and a free-kick was awarded to Sunderland. Alderete then powered home Xhaka’s cross to score Sunderland’s first away goal of the season and ultimately secure the win.
“It wasn’t a free-kick but there is nothing we can do about that,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports after the game. “We should have dealt with it better anyway.”
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Omar Alderete gives Sunderland the lead against Nottingham Forest.
Forest had chances to avoid defeat, Chris Wood’s header from point-blank range bouncing wide being the most notable one, but ultimately walked away empty-handed.
Pressure and an elusive first win now continue to loom over the Australian head coach, ahead of hosting Midtjylland in the Europa League and then travelling to Newcastle, live on Sky Sports, in their next two fixtures.
Meanwhile, a first away win in the top-flight for Sunderland since May 2017 lifted Regis Le Bris’ side into the top four following another impressive performance.
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Nottingham Forest continue to try to find an equaliser against Sunderland.
Postecoglou: Fans have every right to boo
Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou speaking to Sky Sports:
“Fans have every right to be disappointed. They want to see their team win.
“I understand their disappointment and it is shared by us in the dressing room and me. My job is to rectify that.”
On the performance as a whole, Postecoglou added: “Tough, it’s another game that got away from us. It has been the story of the five games. We control games really well and don’t take our chances.
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Nottingham Forest head coach Ange Postecoglou felt Sunderland shouldn’t have been awarded the freekick that led to their goal and said it was another game that got away from them.
“That means we don’t get the result we wanted. We had enough chances to win it. We have been wasteful in front of goal in the last five games.
“It’s not a project; we should be winning these games. It is giving us the right kind of advantages but we still have to win the game.
“Disappointing but we need to dust ourselves off and look at the next challenge to progress from where we are.”
Pressure and frustration creeping in at Forest
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe:
Regardless of how long Ange Postecoglou has been at Nottingham Forest, pressure is now beginning to ramp up at the City Ground.
Five games, two draws and three losses. It is not quite the new manager bounce Forest fans were hoping for.
Sunderland’s Omar Alderete celebrates scoring his first goal for the club
“When there are droughts, we tend to see that there is this almost self-perpetuating cycle of low confidence and low performance,” a performance psychologist recently told Sky Sports about the impact winless runs can have on a team.
The unwanted record will now be looming over Forest heading into every fixture, compounding those doubts and fears, and there is no let-up in terms of their upcoming opponents.
They host Midtjylland on Thursday and then travel to Newcastle, live on Sky Sports, for their next Premier League outing. Chelsea then make the trip to the east Midlands after the international break.
Frustration is already creeping in from the fanbase, which could be amplified if Nuno Espirito Santo starts well at West Ham.
Postecoglou cannot let this run stretch to eight games.
Xhaka: Forest were better, but it’s not about that!
Sunderland captain Granit Xhaka speaking to Sky Sports:
“We had a game plan and we knew it would be very difficult here. But what a mentality from the team. It’s what we need, what support from the fans.
“Nottingham Forest were the better team today, but it’s not about how is better on the pitch, it’s about who scores more today.
“It’s the project. They took me here with my experience, leadership and what I can bring to the team. I’m showing day by day, week by week the professionalism you need at this level. Even with my age now, we run and fight.
“There are so many more things to come. We are training a lot on set pieces, we know how important they are in set pieces and we did it again today. Not just players, the staff are helping us with meetings.”
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Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris says Granit Xhaka is a natural leader and believes he’ll be a coach in the future.
Le Bris: I am proud but we have a lot to learn
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris speaking to Sky Sports:
“Very important to win points. I am really proud and happy for the squad, they worked hard. It is part of our identity.
“We know to be competitive, we have to work together and suffer. Really proud for that because we defended really well.
“With the ball we have room for improvement. But we still have many things to learn.”
