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Rob Earnshaw hits a hat-trick for Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest 5 Leicester 1
THEY call him El Matador – and Robbie Earnshaw is certainly living up to his new nickname.
The Welsh international plunged the sword into Leicester’s defence and twisted it hard, sharp and deadly. He turned what could have been a dour East Midlands derby into a Spanish fiesta, Trent-style.... Earnie, who loves his new moniker bestowed on him by his City Ground teammates, had promised Forest boss
Billy Davies he would deliver if given the chance. And he’s been true to his word since taking up Pilates to
improve his fitness.
He made it five in three games to crush City’s stingy defensive record with a stunning treble. It’s pay-back
Davies get into the Premiership as they cemented third place in the table, leap-frogging the Foxes. Davies said: “There’s no issue between me and Robbie Earnshaw.
He scored three great goals and that’s what he is good at. That’s what he is all about. It’s other parts of his game we have to work with.” Earnshaw was unstoppable as Forest stretched their unbeaten run to 11 matches. He settled the nerves, coolly sidefooting beyond Chris Weale after being put in the clear by Dexter Blackstock on 11 minutes.
He doubled the lead after being first to Chris Cohen’s deflected shot, dinking his finish over the keeper.
And he completed his first Forest hat-trick after a dreadful slip by Jack Hobbs 40 yards from his own goal. Earnshaw weaved around Wayne Brown and buried his left foot shot into the top right hand corner.
City’s chances were over when ref Mick Russell changed his mind about a penalty after Martyn Waghorn had
been tripped by Kelvin Wilson. Forest hit on the counter with Paul Anderson deliciously curling in a right foot shot from 20 yards.
There was brief respite for the Foxes when Waghorn’s pen, after a Wes Morgan handball, bounced off the bar and over the line. But Forest had the last word. Weale could only parry Garath McCleary’s 76th minute long ranger and sub Dele Adebola picked his spot to complete the rout.
City boss Nigel Pearson said: “It’s by far our worst performance. It was an embarrassment.”