Alexis Mac Allister snatched a last-gasp 1-0 win for Liverpool over Nottingham Forest as Vitor Pereira suffered his first league defeat after a dramatic return to the Premier League with his new club.
The Argentina international had already had a potential winner disallowed, but he got the three points Liverpool needed to draw level with fourth-place Chelsea.
Forest had been on top in the first half as they looked to open a five-point gap over the relegation zone, with Callum Hudson-Odoi seeing an early chance smothered by Alisson.
But they could not maintain that pressure, and after seeing one goal disallowed for a handball, Mac Allister popped up again in the seventh minute of stoppage time to break Forest hearts.
Arne Slot’s side remain sixth, while Forest are still 17th, two points clear of the drop, having missed the chance to leapfrog Tottenham Hotspur.
How the match unfolded
Curtis Jones – brought in after Florian Wirtz was reportedly injured in the warm-up – had his pocket picked, and Ibrahim Sangare found Hudson-Odoi, who held off Dominik Szoboszlai, only to see his poked effort smothered by Alisson in the opening moments.
Forest continued to dominate in the first half, with Elliot Anderson dragging a low drive wide before Omari Hutchinson curled a shot straight into Alisson’s gloves as they struggled to take their chances.
Liverpool grew into the game after that, and Mohamed Salah rose high to nod down a cross on the right of the box, but Stefan Ortega stuck out a leg to keep out Jones’ first-time effort from close range.
Forest’s pressure for a winner did not pay off before Hugo Ekitike’s pinpoint header was pushed away by Ortega, with Ola Aina’s clearance hitting Mac Allister on the elbow before crossing the line, and the goal was disallowed following a VAR review.
But Liverpool’s No 10 would get his moment in the closing seconds, sliding home the rebound of Virgil van Dijk’s saved header to clinch a huge win for the Reds.
