Nottingham Forest’s Champions League aspirations suffered a serious setback on Sunday after a 2-2 home draw against already-relegated Leicester City saw them drop to seventh place in the Premier League table.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men now sit one point behind Chelsea in fifth with just two games remaining, leaving their top-four hopes hanging by a thread and no longer in their control.
Despite the historic achievement of securing European football for the first time in three decades, the mood at The City Ground was far from celebratory.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis made his feelings known after the final whistle, striding onto the pitch to confront manager Nuno before walking away visibly frustrated and muttering to himself.
The draw extended Forest’s winless streak in the league to three matches, adding to the growing frustration within the squad.
Morgan Gibbs-White, who found the net in the first half, reflected on the team’s recent struggles.
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“These past three or four games have just not been good enough,” he said in a post-match interview with Sky Sports. “We played well on the ball today but we can’t concede two goals like that today.
“We’ve secured Europe, that’s great for the fans, it’s great for the club. But we want more. The fans’ and our expectations, five or six games ago, were the Champions League. But we’ve got to be positive.”
Leicester struck first in the 16th minute after Bilal El Khannouss tested goalkeeper Matz Sels with a long-range effort.
Sels managed to parry the shot, but defender Conor Coady was quickest to react and slotted home the rebound, his first goal of the league campaign.
Forest responded swiftly. Just nine minutes later, they earned a free kick on the right, which Anthony Elanga delivered with precision. G
ibbs-White rose unmarked and headed in the equalizer with authority.
Forest came out strong in the second half, pressing for a lead. Nicolas Dominguez nearly scored with a diving header, only to be denied by Leicester’s keeper. Soon after, Gibbs-White turned provider, crossing to the far post where Chris Wood met the ball with a powerful header for his 20th goal of the season, giving Forest a 2-1 advantage.
But defensive lapses haunted them again. Ola Aina misjudged a bouncing ball that gave Kasey McAteer a clear chance, though Sels was sharp enough to avert danger.
Leicester kept pushing and found a breakthrough in the 81st minute when Jamie Vardy’s clever back-heel released Facundo Buonanotte, who weaved through Forest’s backline before calmly finishing past Sels.
Leicester nearly snatched a dramatic winner in stoppage time. In a moment that could’ve made history, 15-year-old Jeremy Monga was played through by Vardy and unleashed a shot, only for Sels to preserve the draw with another fine save.
At the final whistle, disappointment lingered among the home supporters. Though Forest will return to European competition for the first time since their 1995-96 UEFA Cup quarter-final run, the draw felt like an opportunity missed in their pursuit of the continent’s elite tournament.