Nottingham Forest 0-1 Burnley: Zeki Amdouni wins it at the death in dramatic Carabao Cup win

Zeki Amdouni’s last-gasp strike sent Burnley past Nottingham Forest and into the third round of the Carabao Cup on a night full of drama at the City Ground.
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The forward came off the bench to net his first Clarets goal in the last minute of normal time to hand Vincent Kompany’s men their first victory of the season.

While Kompany will be delighted with the grit and determination his side showed, the win came at a cost with not one, not two, but THREE injury blows.

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Vitinho and Aaron Ramsey were both able to walk off but the main concern will surround defender Hjalmar Ekdal, who held his head in his hands as he was stretchered off the pitch.

With this cup tie being the third Burnley game in the space of just six days, Kompany opted to make wholesale changes to his side - 10 in total from the weekend defeat to Aston Villa.

Dara O’Shea was the only man to retain his spot, while Arijanet Muric replaced James Trafford in goal while Jay Rodriguez came in for Sunday’s goalscorer Lyle Foster in attack.

Aaron Ramsey, Jacob Bruun Larsen and Nathan Redmond were all handed their first starts of the season, while Wilson Odobert was named on the bench for the first time.

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Zeki Amdouni of Burnley celebrates with Wilson Odobert of Burnley after scoring the team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Zeki Amdouni of Burnley celebrates with Wilson Odobert of Burnley after scoring the team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Zeki Amdouni of Burnley celebrates with Wilson Odobert of Burnley after scoring the team's first goal during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
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Jordan Beyer and Michael Obafemi missed out through injury, while Darko Churlinov remains unavailable due to his summer health scare.

Anass Zaroury, meanwhile, served the second game of his three-match suspension following the straight red he was shown against Man City on the opening day.

As for Forest, Steve Cooper made seven changes to the side that squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2 against Manchester United on Saturday.

At Old Trafford they scored twice in the opening four minutes and they almost made a quick start on this occasion too, Cheikhou Kouyate skewing over with a rising effort and the hosts had dispossessed Burnley in their own half.

NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Hjalmar Ekdal of Burnley is stretchered off by medical staff having picked up an injury during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Hjalmar Ekdal of Burnley is stretchered off by medical staff having picked up an injury during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
NOTTINGHAM, ENGLAND - AUGUST 30: Hjalmar Ekdal of Burnley is stretchered off by medical staff having picked up an injury during the Carabao Cup Second Round match between Nottingham Forest and Burnley at City Ground on August 30, 2023 in Nottingham, England. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
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Burnley’s first opening came via Jay Rodriguez, who maintained his promising cameo off the bench against Aston Villa with a threatening run in behind during the opening stages, only for the ball to inadvertently hit his arm rather than his midriff when he was otherwise through on goal.

Kompany’s men were the better side during the opening stages, crisp in possession of the ball and creating space for themselves with incisive movement.

Bruun Larsen created a promising opening with a quality cross from the left which Rodriguez did well to flick on. A scramble ensued but Forest just about cleared their lines before a Clarets man could poke home the game’s opening goal.

Forest’s biggest threat came via their counter, which caused Burnley issues when they were forced into making errors in their own half.

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One such occasion saw Dara O’Shea forced into making an important covering tackle after Anthony Elanga had been set free in behind.

Burnley were dealt an injury blow 10 minutes before the interval when Vitinho was forced off with a knock, albeit it looked to be more of a precaution and didn’t look overly serious. Ameen Al-Dakhil was the man to replace him.

As soon as the change was made, Forest threatened as Kouyate wastefully blazed over with a volley after the Clarets had only partially cleared their lines inside their own box.

Burnley ended the half well with a couple of chances in injury time, Ramsey seeing a shot blocked before Josh Brownhill curled just over from 25 yards out.

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Burnley were dealt two more injury blows at the start of the second-half following the forced withdrawal of Vitinho during the opening 45 minutes.

Aaron Ramsey was the first, walking off after a brief stoppage, but the third and more serious blow came when Hjalmar Ekdal was stretchered off with his head in his hands after being involved in a melee in the Burnley box.

The Swede was given a good ovation from all four sides of the ground as he was taken off the pitch to be replaced by midfielder Josh Cullen, while Brownhill was forced to drop into the back four.

While the game lost its shape a little during the second period, chances still remained at a premium. Despite that, Burnley continued to look the more likely and posed the most problems.

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We had to wait until the 76th minute for the first real chance of the second-half and it came Burnley’s way through Bruun Larsen.

The winger was set free down the right where he took the ball down well before firing across the keeper but wide of goal.

Forest hit back with a great chance of their own, Ryan Yates heading inches wide from Elanga’s driven cross in from the left. Such was the ferocity of the header and the way Muric remained rooted to his line, the home fans thought their side had finally broken the deadlock.

Kompany made a last roll of the dice shortly afterwards, bringing on Wilson Odobert for his Burnley debut as well as Zeki Amdouni and Lyle Foster.

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With six subs made, one extra owing to a concussion, presumingly for Ramsey, the last thing Burnley needed was another knock. That briefly looked like it would be the case when Foster took a blow to the head, but thankfully he soon got back to his feet and was able to continue.

With 11 men still on the pitch, the Clarets finally broke the deadlock in the last minute of normal time to the absolute jubilation of those away fans behind the goal.

Amdouni was the man to get it, cheating the ball down and slamming home from close range to score his first Burnley goal after fellow sub Sander Berge had made a great driving run forward.

But due to all of the stoppages, the fourth official signalled for 11 minutes to be added on, meaning Burnley still had plenty of defending to do to hold on.

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The Clarets tried all the tricks in the book as the seconds ticked by, Muric predictably receiving a yellow card for taking too long over a goal kick.

Debutant Odobert should have put Burnley out of sight eight minutes into the 11 when he was sent clear through on goal after Forest had sent everyone bar their keeper forward. But a miraculous save from Turner kept the scores at 1-0.

While the home side continued to throw men forward, Burnley – and Muric in particular – held firm as the Clarets held out for their first win of the campaign.

TEAMS

Forest: Turner, Aurier, Montiel (Gibbs-White), Boly, Williams (Toffolo), Kouyate (Johnson), Niakhate, Yates, Santos, Elanga, Wood (Awoniyi)

Subs not used: Horvath, Ui-Jo, Aguilera, Aina, Felipe

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Burnley: Muric, Vitinho (Al-Dakhil), O’Shea, Ekdal (Cullen) Taylor, Brownhill, Gudmundsson, Ramsey (Berge), Bruun Larsen (Amdouni), Redmond (Odobert), Rodriguez (Foster)

Subs not used: Trafford, Cork, Benson

Referee: Robert Madley

Attendance: 27,766