Bournemouth battled back from a goal down to rescue a late draw and point away to Nottingham Forest on the opening day of the 2024-25 Premier League season.
WATCH NOTTINGHAM FOREST vs BOURNEMOUTH REPLAY
Things started on a real sour note, as Danilo suffered what appeared to be a serious lower leg injury inside the first five minutes and required more than 10 minutes of on-field treatment before he was stretchered off. The 23-year-old Brazilian contested a bouncing ball inside the center circle and landed awkwardly on his left foot and leg.
Chris Wood opened the scoring in the 25th minute, cleaning up Neto’s badly spilled rebound in front of goal after Ryan Yates fired a relatively tame bouncer his way. The 1-0 scoreline looked like it might hold until full-time, even as Bournemouth dominated the second half and had most of the scoring chances.
Unfortunately for Forest, it was a comedic sequence inside the six-yard box which led to the late equalizer. Ryan Christie whipped a cross in front of goal and Harry Toffolo could only awkward touch it away at full-stretch, but it hit teammate Murillo, standing two yards away, in the chest. The ball fell in front of Murillo and to the feet of Antoine Semenyo, who tucked it past Matz Sels to make it 1-1 in the end.
Player ratings - Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth
Nottingham Forest updates, highlights & final score: 1-1
Goalscorers: Chris Wood (23'), Antoine Semenyo (86')
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-1 Bournemouth: Antoine Semenyo rescues a deserved late point for the Cherries
OFFSIDE! Dango Ouattara pulls Bournemouth levvel but VAR reveals offside in build-up
Better from Bournemouth the last few minutes, and they even managed to put the ball in the goal, only for it to be ruled out for a narrow offside call on the ball before the final ball.
GOAL! Nottingham Forest 1-0 Bournemouth: Chris Wood cleans up the mess in front of goal
7th minute - Danilo goes down with a serious leg injury
Danilo is down inside the center circle and being loaded onto the stretcher after he appeared to suffer a very serious lower leg injury. The Brazilian midfielder tried to win a bouncing ball at midfield and landed awkwardly, with his foot going one way and his leg the other.
How to watch Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth, stream link and start time
Kick off time: 10 am ET, Saturday (August 17)
Venue: City Ground
Streaming: Watch live on Peacock
Nottingham Forest starting lineup
Sels - Williams, Boly, Murillo, Aina - Sangare, Danilo, Gibbs-White - Elanga, Hudson-Odoi, Wood
Bournemouth starting lineup
Neto - Smith, Zabarnyi, Huijsen, Kerkez - Cook, Scott, Tavernier - Ouattara, Sinisterra, Semenyo
Nottingham Forest team news, focus
No injuries to report.
The Tricky Trees have once again been active in the transfer market, making five first-team signings already, including something of a coup in Serbian center back Nikola Milenkovic (56 caps) from Fiorentina. A large part of Forest’s spine from a season ago left in the summer, with midfielder Orel Mangala and center back Moussa Niakhate both moving to Lyon for a combined $60 million.
Bournemouth team news, focus
OUT: Enes Unal (ankle), Tyler Adams (back), David Brooks (shoulder)
Solanke thrived in Iraola’s counter-pressing system, and now they’ll hope that 27-year-old Turkish striker Enes Unal, who joined permanently from Getafe for $17 million earlier this summer, can replace a significant chunk of it. Unal scored two goals in 16 PL appearances while on loan last season.
Nottingham Forest vs Bournemouth prediction
Something tells me that Forest’s defense isn’t going to be ready for the pressure that Bournemouth will put them under for 90 minutes. It’s uncomfortable for the best of teams, and a nightmare for those down at the bottom. Nottingham Forest 1-3 Bournemouth.