Forest 0-1 Coventry: a goalkeeper’s assist wins the first

Nottingham Forest 0-1 Coventry City was won by a team that had not scored a goal all season, and the goal was set up by their goalkeeper. On fifty-five minutes at the City Ground, Carl Rushworth’s delivery found Jay Dasilva on the left side of the box, and Dasilva finished left-footed into the centre of the goal. It was Coventry’s first goal of the Premier League season and their first points.

Forest had 62.6% of the ball and twenty-four shots. Three of them were on target. Coventry had ten attempts, also three on target, and one of the three won the match.

Four matches, ten goals conceded, none scored

Coventry arrived in Nottingham with a record that read: lost 3-0 at Arsenal, lost 1-0 at home to Hull, lost 1-0 at Manchester City, lost 5-0 at home to Brighton. Four defeats, ten goals conceded, no goals scored and no points. They had been beaten by the champions-elect, by the promoted side above them and, the week before, by five at their own ground.

The response was to travel to a side unbeaten in three and keep them out for ninety minutes while scoring the only goal of the match. It is the kind of afternoon a promoted club builds a season on, and it came from the most unlikely assist in the division.

Rushworth’s ball, Dasilva’s finish

Coventry lined up 3-4-2-1 with Rushworth behind Bobby Thomas, Ethan Pinnock and Stephen Mfuni. The goal came ten minutes into the second half, from the goalkeeper: a ball forward that reached Dasilva on the left side of the box, and a left-footed finish into the middle of the goal. It is the only assist of its kind on the matchday.

After that, Coventry defended. Forest’s twenty-four shots produced three saves’ worth of work. Liam Delap was booked on fifty-nine and Jair Cunha in the fourth minute of stoppage time, and Coventry finished the afternoon without a single card.

• Jay Dasilva (Coventry City), 55 minutes: left-footed, assisted by Carl Rushworth
• Shots: Nottingham Forest 24 (3 on target), Coventry City 10 (3 on target)
• Possession: Nottingham Forest 62.6%, Coventry City 37.4%
• Corners: Nottingham Forest 6, Coventry City 2
• Cards: Nottingham Forest 2 yellow, Coventry City none

Forest had twenty-four shots and lost

Forest had gone into the match unbeaten in three, having drawn 2-2 at Liverpool, drawn 0-0 with Tottenham and won 2-1 at Aston Villa. They have five points from five, four goals scored and five conceded, and they have now failed to score in three of their five matches.

Twenty-four attempts and three on target is the sharpest version of a problem that has followed them all season. They are not short of the ball or of territory at the City Ground; they are short of the final touch, and a promoted side with no goals and no points punished them for it.

Coventry leave with three points, one goal scored and ten conceded, and the fact that their first goal of the campaign arrived from their own goalkeeper’s boot will make it the one they remember. Jarred Gillett refereed in front of 30,666.

Three on target each

The shot counts look like a mismatch and the shots on target do not: three each. Forest needed twenty-four attempts to find three that a goalkeeper had to deal with, Coventry needed ten. It is the clearest example on the matchday of why volume and threat are not the same thing.

Forest have had more of the ball than their opponent in four of their five matches and they have four goals. Two came in one afternoon at Villa Park and the other two in a 2-2 at Anfield, which means that across their three matches at the City Ground this season they have not scored at all.

Coventry’s afternoon also broke a run of a particular kind. Their two previous away matches were a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal and a 1-0 defeat at Manchester City, both against sides who had won every league match up to that point. This was the first time they had played a mid-table team away from home, and they won it without conceding.

Simulate the rest of the Premier League season

Coventry had no goals and no points and have just won at a ground where the home side had twenty-four shots. On the Premier League simulator you can take the real table forward and see whether that was the turn or the exception.

• Play the remaining 33 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
• Run any fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
• Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
• Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share

"Coventry had not scored a goal all season. Their first was set up by their goalkeeper, and it won them their first match."