FOREST HISTORY · Historic event
Championship survival secured
On this day in 2009 Forest beat Southampton to secure Championship survival.
Forest secured Championship survival with a dramatic 3-1 victory over Southampton at the City Ground on the final day of the season.
Southampton took the lead, increasing the pressure on a Forest side still fighting to avoid an immediate return to League One. The response came late, but it came with force. Joe Garner brought Forest level in the 73rd minute, and Luke Chambers then put them ahead with only minutes left.
Robert Earnshaw completed the turnaround in stoppage time, finishing low into the corner to make the result safe. What had begun as a tense survival afternoon ended with Forest scoring three times in the final stages and taking control of their own fate.
The final whistle sparked huge celebrations around the City Ground as Forest confirmed their place in the Championship. After months spent near the bottom of the table, survival had been earned in the most emphatic way possible: by turning the match around when the pressure was at its highest.
Sources
BBC Sport; Soccerbase; Nottingham Forest official site
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