Forest beat Leicester 2-0 and boosts EPL survival hopes

Nottingham Forest's Brennan Johnson, center, celebrates scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Leicester City and Nottingham Forest at the City Ground in Nottingham, England, Saturday Jan. 14, 2023. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Brennan Johnson scored twice as Nottingham Forest boosted its chance of English Premier League survival by beating Leicester 2-0 on Saturday.

The result moved Forest above its East Midlands rival and five points clear of the relegation zone.

Leicester suffered a fourth straight loss in the league, while Forest has lost just one of its last six league games.

Johnson opened the scoring in the 56th minute when rounding Leicester goalkeeper Danny Ward and rolling the ball into an empty net. The flag went up for offside, but VAR overturned the decision.

Forest made the game safe in the 84th after Johnson got an assist from Morgan Gibbs-White.

The win marked a turnaround since the reverse fixture in October that saw Leicester win 4-0 in a game Forest manager Steve Cooper called the worst of his managerial career.