Nottingham Forest have not kept a clean sheet in the top division of English football at Elland Road in 26 attempts.
It is a run that stretches back to 1925; their worst record against any club — and one that rarely looked to be under threat on this bracing, painful night in Yorkshire.
The fact that three members of their regular defensive unit — who had helped Forest to keep 13 clean sheets last season — were unavailable did not help their cause.
And this was a night when the precious value of men like Murillo, Neco Williams and Matz Sels was cast into sharper focus.
Forest will hope that the calf injury suffered by Murillo in training on Thursday and the groin issue Sels sustained in Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace does not keep either of them sidelined for long. There was a price to be paid for another key moment in that City Ground 1-1 draw, with Williams serving a one-match suspension for the red card he earned for handling the ball in the goalmouth.
All three of them were badly missed.
In March 2012, Forest memorably won 7-3 at this venue and, for long spells in this match, it looked as though they would need a similar flurry of goals to get something from this game.
It is all too easy to pick apart team selection with the benefit of hindsight.
Sean Dyche was faced with the choice of selecting Zach Abbott — a highly regarded young central defender — for his first Premier League start at right back, or whether to gamble on playing new signing Luca Netz, despite him having only had one proper training session following his arrival from Borussia Monchengladbach.
Both were imperfect solutions to an unavoidable problem.
Nuno Espirito Santo had previously had enough confidence in Abbott to field him at right back in the intimidating surroundings of an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, and he had more recently played in the role in Europa League wins over Malmo and Utrecht.
But Leeds manager Daniel Farke admitted after the game that Forest’s right side was an area they felt they could exploit. And, while it would be unfair to single him out for criticism, Abbott’s inclusion in the side meant more disruption, with Ola Aina being shuffled across from right back to the left, where he himself had a rare off night in a Forest shirt.
Morato, who was drafted in to replace Murillo as the left-sided central defender, was a shadow of his fellow Brazilian. Many players would be, in fairness.
Murillo’s injury had come right at the end of Forest’s final training session ahead of this game. The preparations had involved Murillo playing at left back, with Morato alongside Nikola Milenkovic and Aina in his familiar role on the right. No work was done with the formation or personnel that they lined up with at Elland Road. It showed.
“Luca had been with us for a day,” said Dyche in his post-match press conference. “It was a lot to ask of him, at a time when he did not know anyone, when he did not know how we play. He did fine when he came on, but it was my decision. Zach is a good pro, he has been working hard and did well in the Europa League.”
Regardless of the logic, it felt as though the two enforced changes to the Forest back four were at least a partial catalyst for the loss of recent defensive solidity. This had been on display as Dyche’s side held on for a point with ten men against Palace, and when they secured clean sheets in a 2-0 win at Brentford and a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, before that.
Abbott played at right-back against Leeds (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
In the first five minutes, Leeds had several moments of threat down their left side, with Abbott actually doing well — albeit armed with a big chunk of luck — to deflect a Gabriel Gudmundsson cross over his own bar.
And the goals, when they came, all had elements in the build-up that it was possible to pick apart. Morato, Nikola Milenkovic and Aina were all too static as Ilia Gruev played a perfectly weighted ball over the top into the path of Jayden Bogle’s run, allowing him to beat goalkeeper Stefan Ortega at his near post for the first.
In the 30th minute, Ortega — making his debut following his £500k arrival from Manchester City — made a smart save, but the ball fell to James Justin, who calmly picked out an unmarked Noah Okafor to guide a shot into an exposed net. Five minutes after half-time, Dominic Calvert-Lewin had the space to guide an improvised finish home with his chest, after Gruev was allowed far too much room to cross from the edge of the box.
Forest carved out chances of their own — former Forest goalkeeper Karl Darlow made impressive saves to keep out Nico Dominguez, Igor Jesus, Morgan Gibbs-White and, towards the end, Ibrahim Sangare. Morato also failed to connect with a golden opportunity to pull a goal back, shortly before Lorenzo Lucca finally did.
While it was not a goal that greatly altered the broader picture, it will have been a major positive for the Italian. He might have arrived in Nottingham in need of a confidence boost, following a frustrating few months in Naples. His towering header, as he connected with a nicely flighted cross from Omari Hutchinson, might have restored belief.
Forest, who were four games unbeaten before this, must quickly find a way to achieve that as a team. This result gives West Ham the opportunity to close the gap between them and Forest to three points when they face Burnley today. If they win, Nuno’s side would then have the opportunity to go level on points with Forest when they face Manchester United on Tuesday — before Forest even play again.
Beyond that, bottom-of-the-table Wolves arrive at the City Ground for a massive game on Wednesday.
Forest have kept clean sheets in both of their last two meetings with Wolves. There would be no better time for them rediscover the defensive resolve they will need to keep a third.