Despite another rough day at the office, Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo is not ready to publicly criticize U.S. men’s national team goalkeeper Matt Turner.
Gabriel Jesus on Tuesday in what became a 2-1 home defeat to Arsenal.
However, for the second time since taking charge, Nuno refused to hang his goalkeeper out to dry while addressing the media.
They are not individual errors, they are team errors,” said the Forest manager in quotes published by Nottinghamshire Live. “It is always about us when we make mistakes. We are responsible for those mistakes. They are things we should avoid.”
While the goal saw Turner let Gabriel Jesus’ shot from no angle slip between his feet at the near post, Nuno told various outlets that he’s more concerned about how the opportunity to shoot ever came to pass.
“It was a throw-in, and we should have covered the inside and not allow them to go inside,” the 50-year-old told TNT Sports. “We should have defended better.”
Nuno may have a point, regardless of Turner’s inability to stop a shot that was always going to be right at him. With Neco Williams down injured, Forest switched off, allowing Oleksandr Zinchenko to simply toss the ball to a wide-open Gabriel Jesus on the edge of the penalty area.
Gabriel Jesus sneaks it past Matt Turner to give Arsenal a crucial second half lead!
📺 @peacock pic.twitter.com/LywX6EfkZt
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 30, 2024
That meant that Turner was the only Forest player between the Arsenal forward and the goal, which is not exactly the best way to stop a Premier League power from scoring.
Nuno hammered the point home in a chat with BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I am disappointed with the way we conceded both goals we should avoid them,” the São Tomé and Príncipe native explained. “The first from a throw-in and then [the second] from an offensive corner. That cost us the game.”
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