SWANSEA : Ange Postecoglou suffered his second successive defeat since taking over as Nottingham Forest manager as his side conceded twice in stoppage time to lose 3-2 at second-tier Swansea City in the League Cup third round despite leading 2-0 on Wednesday.
The Australian, who replaced Nuno Espirito Santo at the City Ground this month, looked stunned as Cameron Burgess fired home in the 97th minute to send the home fans wild.
Forest had controlled the opening half with Igor Jesus scoring twice – his first in the 14th minute when he fired in at the far post after a ball rebounded into his path and the second just before the break after a flowing move.
There was no hint of the drama to come for most of the second half on a rainy south Wales night but Swansea got a lifeline with just over 20 minutes remaining as Burgess found space to head in from a corner.
Slovenian substitute Zan Vipotnik then levelled in the third minute of stoppage time and Forest could not even get to a penalty shoot-out as Burgess pounced after Ethan Galbraith’s piledriver came back off the crossbar.
Postecoglou’s side have now conceded six goals in his two games after his Forest reign began with a 3-0 defeat at Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday.
Had Forest’s Arnaud Kalimuendo’s effort not been ruled offside shortly before Swansea’s first goal, the visitors would have cruised into the hat for the fourth round.
Postecoglou said they paid the price for thinking the tie was all over.
“I just thought it was a game we really should have killed off long before it got to the stage that it did,” the former Tottenham Hotspur manager said. “I got the sense we were getting a bit comfortable and thought the game would finish off easily.
“But that’s not what happens, particularly in cup football. “I was just frustrated that we didn’t realise the danger that could have developed by not being more clinical.”
