Leeds boost survival bid with win over relegation rivals Forest

Leeds bolstered their bid for Premier League survival with a vital 3-1 win against relegation rivals Nottingham Forest on Friday.

Daniel Farke’s side struck twice in the four minutes in the first half through Jayden Bogle and Noah Okafor.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin bagged Leeds’ third after the interval at Elland Road. Lorenzo Lucca’s late debut goal was no consolation for woeful Forest.

Leeds moved nine points clear of the relegation zone.

Fourth-bottom Forest sit six points above third-bottom West Ham, who can close the gap if they win a crucial clash at second-bottom Burnley on Saturday.

Farke said earlier this week that 12 points from the remaining 14 games should guarantee Leeds avoid an immediate return to the Championship.

Their first win in three league matches was a huge step towards that target.

“We showed a great mentality, a great spirit. It was the other side of us, the fighting edge. A perfect win,” Farke said.

“Elland Road is a fortress. If we deliver performances like this we have a good chance to stay up.”

Forest’s first defeat in five league games was a symptom of their enforced reshuffle at the back

Stefan Ortega, deputising for injured keeper Matz Sels, was playing in the Premier League for the first time since April 2025, while teenage right-back Zach Abbott made his first top-flight start with Murillo and Neco Williams unavailable.

“We’ve had late changes which is not perfect. You’ve got to do the basics and we didn’t do them,” Forest boss Sean Dyche said.

“The goals are awful from our standards. You can’t give away chances like that at this level.”

Leeds swiftly exposed Forest’s soft centre as Calvert-Lewin thumped a close-range header against the bar, with the ball bouncing down inches from crossing the line.

Farke’s side didn’t have to rue that miss for long as they took the lead in the 26th minute.

Bogle made a well-timed burst onto Ilia Gruev’s pin-point pass over the Forest defence and the defender kept his cool to beat Ortega with a low finish at the near post.

Roared on by their fans, Leeds struck again just four minutes later.

James Justin wriggled free inside the Forest area and when his shot was saved by Ortega, he had the presence of mind to square the rebound to Okafor, who slotted home from 10 yards.

Calvert-Lewin put the result beyond doubt in the 49th minute, using a clever chested finish to guide Gruev’s cross past Ortega from close-range for his 10th league goal this term.

Lucca’s glancing header from Omari Hutchinson’s cross showed the cutting edge that Forest lacked for the previous 85 minutes.