“They really made hay” – Adrian Clarke issues his verdict on Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 win at Sheffield United | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest produced an utterly dominant performance at Bramall Lane on Saturday, and should have taken a far more comfortable lead into the second leg of their Championship play-off semi final against Sheffield United.

Steve Cooper’s men passed up a number of golden opportunities and went in only 1-0 up at half time.

Brennan Johnson added a much deserved second goal in the 71st minute, before Sander Berge halved the deficit from a corner in second half additional time.

The performance would have justified winning by a three-goal margin, and arguably even more, but the Reds will arrive at the City Ground a goal to the good with a very positive mindset on Tuesday evening.

Adrian Clarke assessed the result and performance as a whole when he appeared on The Totally Football League Show.

He said: “Nottingham Forest were superior by some distance and probably could have won this 4-1, or 4-0 really, because it was a soft concession towards the end.

“Foderingham kept Sheffield United in the game in the first half, every time Forest went forward, they scythed through them, they just had too much pace.

“In particular down Forest’s right, which has been just awesome all season, they really made hay.

“There will be a slight regret that they didn’t get a healthier advantage, but it was a good performance.”

It was not through a lack of intent or desire from the Blades’ point of view, if anything, Paul Heckingbottom’s men were too gung ho in the first period and paid for that approach by being ripped apart on the counter attack time and time again.

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The City Ground will be rocking on Tuesday evening, with the Reds comfortable favourites to progress.

Joe Worrall, Steve Cook and Scott McKenna were all outstanding at Bramall Lane, and will be confident of limiting the Blades from open play once again.

United will likely sit a little deeper and look to hurt Forest on the counter, similar to what happened to them in the first leg, on Tuesday evening, with an expectation that even with a one goal advantage, Cooper’s men will go for the jugular in the opening exchanges.

Wes Foderingham deserves a lot of credit for keeping the Blades in the tie, and though he was at fault for the second goal, John Egan was also crucial with some last ditch defending.