The real reason Alex Moreno chose not to celebrate with teammates after Nottingham Forest goal vs Chelsea
Today at 04:30 AM
Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Chelsea at the weekend in a game that proved entertaining, enthralling and end-to-end!
For the neutral supporters, this game would have proved outstanding but from a Forest fan perspective, it was anxiety-producing in abundance.
At times in the second half the game resembled a basketball contest with both teams trying desperately to claim a win.
Robert Sanchez lauded Matz Sels after the draw and in truth, both clubs were indebted to their goalkeepers on the day.
Nuno Espirito Santo went to Stamford Bridge with a gameplan and it worked to perfection.
Chelsea supporter and TalkSPORT presenter Andy Jacobs called the approach ‘cheating’ but from a club that have twice employed Jose Mourinho that is pretty rich!
Forest were more than worthy of a point on the day and right at the death they might have nicked it when Jota Silva saw a header brilliantly saved.
Chris Wood was praised by Ally McCoist after his fourth goal of the season and the strike proved good for a number of reasons.
The real reason Alex Moreno didn’t celebrate with Forest teammates vs Chelsea
Forest struggled with set pieces big style last season both defensively and offensively and something had to change.
On Sunday, Noni Madueke admitted that Forest had frustrated Chelsea and in scoring a set piece, there was a clear sign of progression.
Alex Moreno was an intriguing player to watch when the goal went in as he didn’t actually go and celebrate with his teammates straight away.
Instead, he pointed to the bench where Espirito Santo’s coach Axl Rice was sat and fist pumped in his direction.
It’s been claimed by The Telegraph that he is the man responsible for working on set pieces in training and clearly he’s earning his keep at the moment.
Moreno signed for Forest on loan from Aston Villa and he’s already looked like a very good addition, bringing balance to the back four.
Forest have gone full circle during current Premier League campaign
The Reds needed to do something when it came to set pieces and it’s no surprise that signing James Ward-Prowse has helped.
It was his teasing ball that was nodded forward by Nikola Milenkovic that led to Wood notching a fourth goal of the season.
| Position | Team | PlayedMP | WonW | DrawnD | LostL | ForGF | AgainstGA | DiffGD | PointsPts |
| 8 | FulhamFulham | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 9 | TottenhamTottenham | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 10 |
| 10 | Nottm ForestNottingham Forest | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 10 |
| 11 | BrentfordBrentford | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 10 |
| 12 | West HamWest Ham | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 8 |
Clearly the work being done in training is going well on the set piece front and defensively the team look sound in that sense too.
Forest still have work to do of course and the hope will be that the home form can improve after the international break with three of the next four on Trentside.
The goal scored on Sunday was a step in the right direction, however, and clearly, Moreno wanted Rice to get his flowers for his efforts behind the scenes.
