How best to sum up Nottingham Forest’s pulsating, dramatic draw with Liverpool at an electric City Ground? Put simply, what a game and what an atmosphere.

The City Ground was made for nights like Tuesday. Under the lights, it was mesmerising, magical, and absolutely bouncing as two top teams slugged it out for a point. The grandest of settings for a heavyweight clash. Spine-tingling.

And with every passing week belief is only growing that plenty more such special evenings Trentside could be on the way - potentially with Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest competing on an even more elite stage. After all, they aren’t going anywhere. Just you try budging them from the top spots now.

Try budging them from Arne Slot’s head, too. It would be no surprise if, once he reached home comforts on Merseyside, the Dutchman was unable to get some shut-eye due to a certain chant ringing in his ears.

That there was a feeling of slight disappointment in the dressing room afterwards said a lot. But in the cold light of day, the Reds should be proud and encouraged. Below, we look at some of the big talking points from the 1-1 draw.

Nuno’s plan

Liverpool would have known what was coming when they turned up on the banks of the Trent. Forest have a clear identity under Nuno, and it is an effective one. Trying to thwart it is another matter, though. This team know what they are doing.

The visitors did nothing with the ball in the opening 45 minutes. The Reds, by contrast, might not have seen much possession but they did the business with it. Anthony Elanga set Chris Wood free with a beautiful through-ball and it was capped off with a typically-composed finish. It was the kind of play Forest have punished so many teams with this season.

Given how good they are at shutting up shop, for so long it looked as though that would prove to be the winner. But 22 seconds turned the game as that was how long it took for Diogo Jota to equalise once he had come off the bench.

In the latter stages, the hosts were on the ropes as Liverpool pushed for another. They did not bend, though. Taken as a whole, the 90 minutes encapsulated much of what the Reds are about this term. Perhaps the biggest positive to take from it is that they are capable of playing better, but they still went toe-to-toe with the strongest side in the division.

Bags of character

If there is one quality to best sum up this group of Reds players it is character. They showed it in bucketloads on Tuesday night. Passion, heart, desire and spirit epitomised their collective display.

They threw themselves in front of everything in the dying minutes. They ran themselves into the ground from kick-off until the final whistle, committing themselves to every challenge and battling for the cause. It was an almighty effort from front to back.

To highlight Forest’s character is not to downplay their quality, though. They have plenty of both, and that is why they are where they are. It is difficult to single out individual players as every man played his part, including the substitutes. But some deserve special mention.

The entire back line was immense, as has been the case throughout this season. To highlight Forest’s defensive solidity is to sound like a broken record. But Murillo proved why he is such a special player with probably his best display in the Garibaldi - and that is saying something. Slot, with his salty comments earlier in the week about the Reds’ spending, should take note that the centre-back cost just £11 million.

It was tough to choose between the Brazilian and Matz Sels (also a bargain at £5m) for Player of the Match. The latter went from having one of his quietest games to being his team’s saviour by the end. He is undoubtedly the most in-form goalkeeper in the Premier League right now.

Elliot Anderson and Neco Williams stood out, too. For Williams, playing against his former club is always a big occasion and he more than stood up to a very tough test.

City Ground magic

“This is Nottingham. We are the Reds,” read Forza Garibaldi’s giant banner across the Trent End ahead of kick-off. At the opposite end of the ground, another proclaimed: “We'll never stop believin cos Nuno's got us dreamin.”

Flags were flying long before the teams came out. And then there was Mull of Kintyre. As loud as ever, with scarves held aloft all around. Enough to give you goosebumps.

When Wood found the back of the net, the roof came off the place. And it did so again as Forest fans carried their team over the line at the end, urging them on when some players looked dead on their feet in the closing stages.

"We cannot thank the fans enough. In the added time they were the ones running for us and pushing the players. This is the bond that we want,” Wood said afterwards.

Slot will almost certainly never have experienced quite such a night. "We're in your head, in your head, Arne Arne Arne-Ne-Ne,” to the tune of The Cranberries' hit Zombie echoed around the City Ground several times. Each time, the visiting manager seemed to respond by pacing a little quicker around his technical area with almost an air of nervousness about him - or maybe that was just a trick of the imagination. Either way, the home crowd enjoyed themselves.The atmosphere was something else.

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How things stand

So the gap between the Reds and Liverpool remains the same, at six points. But Nuno’s men have moved up to second, at least for now.

Beforehand, this game was almost being billed by some pundits as a test of Forest’s title-challenging credentials. Jamie Carragher had said a home win would mean they are in the title race.

But does it really matter about putting a label on such things? About deciding whether the Reds are contenders for first prize or not? To some extent, doing so takes something away from what Nuno frequently describes as “the journey” the club are on. It is to be enjoyed and savoured, regardless of what happens.

There is absolutely no question Forest deserve to be mixing it at the top end of the table. That was not in doubt even prior to Tuesday night.

"We are not talking about this,” Sels said (via the BBC) when the question of title prospects was put to him. “We want to finish as high as possible in the league. A lot of people before the season said we would play against relegation so we need to enjoy the good momentum we are in. We take it game by game."

That mantra has served the Reds well so far. They are not about to change now.

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