On This Day | Ten-man Swans deny Forest

12th May
Club
Brendan Rodgers Nottingham Forest 2011

Ten-man Swansea City valiantly held Nottingham Forest to a goalless draw in the opening leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on May 12, 2011.

Brendan Rodgers’ side had to play the best part of 88 minutes a man light after Neil Taylor was shown a straight red card with just over 60 seconds on the clock.

However, a combination of a solid defensive effort and terrific saves from Dorus de Vries kept Forest at bay and put the Swans in the driving seat ahead of the return leg at the Liberty.

Nathan Dyer Nottingham Forest 2011

Fresh from a commanding 4-0 victory over Sheffield United to secure a third-place finish, the Swans arrived at the City Ground in a buoyant mood.

But all their plans were thrown out of the window after just under two minutes, when Taylor was given his marching orders by referee Mike Dean for a high challenge on Lewis McGugan.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, the visitors went closest to opening the scoring in the first half. Fabio Borini’s 25-yard free-kick stung the palms of Lee Camp, while Garry Monk’s header from the resulting corner was just about scrambled away by Forest.

The hosts turned up the pressure after the break and had a strong penalty appeal turned down after Chris Cohen’s effort struck the arm of Alan Tate.

Garry Monk Nottingham Forest 2011

Robert Earnshaw put the ball in the net from the subsequent corner, but his far-post header was ruled out for offside. 

Nathan Tyson then drew a fine save out of De Vries as the Swans desperately held on.

But hold on, they did and the odds were very much in their favour ahead of the return leg at the Liberty four days later.