Manchester City v Nottingham Forest 1991/92

City Coton, Hill, Pointon, Reid, Curle, Redmond, white, Brightwell, Quinn, Megson, Brennan – subs Heath(unused), Hendry(unused)

Forest Crossley, Charles, Pearce, Chettle, Tiler, K?eane, Crosby, Gemmill, Clough, Sheringham, Jemson – subs Laws(89), Black(unused)

GOALS FROM NIALL QUINN AND ANDY HILL

FROM THE PRESS BOX

JOHN LOMAS WRITING IN THE NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST 5TH SEPTEMBER 1991
There is no justice in football.
Forest, playing superbly at times with a mixture of flair and fight, at Maine Road last night, fell to a dramatic winner by Manchester City full-back Andy Hill just four minutes from time.
“Anybody at the game could see how well we played,” said Forest boss Brian Clough. “At the end of the day, though, we’ve nothing to show for it and that’s a matter of some concern. But I don’t want to dwell on it because people think you’re making excuses.”
The goal came when Forest looked to have gained a just share of the spoils in a pulsating clash.
They had battled back well to level through Teddy Sheringham on 66 minutes after being stung by Niall Quinn’s opener six minutes from half-time.
But Hill jumped highest to meet a right-wing cross on 86 minutes and although Mark Crossley, at full stretch to his right, managed to get his fingertips to the ball, the power of the header was too much for him to keep out.
The Reds new £1.5 million signing Kingsley Black had to make do with a place on the bench after playing A few minutes of a Midland Senior League match at Doncaster earlier in the day.
… The game more than lived up to its promise in an explosive end-to-end first half with the tackling fierce but fair.
Forest began brightly and Scot Gemmill drove over the bar and Nigel Jemson fired just wide in the opening six minutes.
Gemmill and Gary Crosby both forced saves from Tony Coton before City began to take the upper hand and restrict Forest to occasional counter attacks at this stage.
Carl Tyler had difficulty dealing with 6ft 5in Niall Quinn, but to his credit won more of their aerial duels as the game wore on.
Chances began to come City’s way and David White was just too late to meet a Quinn header across the face of goal while Ian Brightwell forced Crossley into a save after Gary Charles was caught in possession in his own box.
He also kept out a fierce White drive, a long-range Steve Redmond free-kick, and a header from Hill while Charles did supremely well to slide in to prevent Quinn from turning in White’s low cross.
But just as it seemed Forest had weathered the pressure, Quinn headed a corner back across the box towards Keith Curle on 39 minutes.
Instead of heading at goal Curle nodded back to Quinn whose powerful volley struck the inside of the right post and was adjudged to have crossed the line before Curle made sure.
Stuart Pearce did well with a last-ditch tackle to stop Reid adding a quick second after the break. But the pace had slowed right down and after surviving two scares when White volleyed just wide And Quinn put a free header off target, fighting Forest stepped up a gear.
Pushing Clough up front and Sheringham back into midfield, brought new life to the side and Clough and Keane combined to set up a chance for Crosby which Coton beat away.
Forest were level a minute later as Sheringham confidently side-footed Clough’s, low cross from the left into the bottom right hand corner.
City thought White had found a winner on 81 minutes until his goal-bound shot struck team-mate Quinn en route.
But Hill’s late strike sent Forest back across the Pennines without the point they deserved.