Sky Sports commentator Seb Hutchinson has explained where he thinks Nottingham Forest impressed massively during the Aston Villa game.
Hutchinson, who was commentating on the Reds’ victory at the City Ground, claimed that he was impressed with Steve Cooper’s decision to play Murillo and Moussa Niakhate together.
Sunday’s game was the first time that the pair had played together as a two at the centre of defence, however, their performances demonstrated real quality and signalled the start of a great partnership.
Hutchinson was impressed with the pair and labelled the defence as the key for the Cooper in the win.
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Hutchinson on the Aston Villa win
Speaking on the Garibaldi Red Podcast, the commentator claimed that Forest’s defending won them the game on Sunday afternoon.
“Steve Cooper, the work he did before that game – he had it all worked out.
“All he needed was for the players to implement it to be successful. You could see the plan, breaking at pace and they were exploiting Villa’s high line.
“The defensive base was excellent and I think that was the most impressive part of Forest’s performance.
“The centre-back partnership was excellent, they just got everything right.”
The start of a great partnership?
Sunday’s display gave Forest fans a potential insight into what could be a long and successful centre-back pairing of Murillo and Moussa Niakhate.
Since his arrival, the 27-year-old has struggled with injuries with Niakhate failing to get a real run of games under his belt.
He looked so comfortable alongside Brazilian Murillo, with Cooper having a real headache between sticking or twisting the centre-back partnership this weekend.
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