Nottingham Forest return to winning ways after beating Sheffield United 1-0 in a classic game of two halves.

Forest dominated much of the first half after taking the lead in the fourth minute. They looked by far the better side and took advantage of the time and space they were given by Sheffield United to create some good football.

United were down to ten men at the start of the second half but they fought back all the harder and it was a much more competitive second half and a tense finish to the game. But Forest defended well and held on to secure all three points.

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It was a bright start from Forest who were pushing forward from the outset and Chris Cohen was only just wide of the far post when he shot from just outside the D.

It took Forest just four minutes to take the lead, from Radoslaw Majewski's superbly taken header. The ball found Paul Anderson whose header found Robert Earnshaw, who turned the ball across the line from close range.

United had no chances at all during the first 25 minutes, with Lee Camp having very little to do. When they did eventually put some pressure on the Forest defence they coped with confidence.

In spite of controlling much of the play, Forest didn't have another shot on goal until just after the half hour mark from Chris Cohen's corner. The ball floated into the box and Mark Bunn only just got there before Wes Morgan could get his head on the end of it.

And from a corner the ball fell to the feet of Dexter Blackstock whose connection with the ball was poor and it bounced back up into the hands of Bunn.

Some excellent football created another chance for forest with a good dummy by Chris Gunter who then squared the ball back for Cohen. He squared it across to Anderson on the edge of the penalty area, but his effort under pressure went over the bar.

United had their best chance of the half when James Perch misjudged Nyron Nosworthy's cross, but the ball curled towards goal and Camp did very well to dive to his left to palm the ball away for Paul McKenna to clear.

Forest threatened again in stoppage time when Cohen was released down the right. The cross went over the head of Earnshaw but was deflected for a corner before it could reach Anderson as he ran into the box.

And from Majewski's corner the ball bounced up in front of Bunn, who did well to pounce on the ball and smother it.

United were surprisingly down to ten men in the opening minute of the second half when Darius Henderson was shown a red card for an off the ball incident in which it would seem that he elbowed Anderson.

Forest had a chance from the break when Cohen fed the ball through to Earnshaw as he ran into the box but, as he was crowded out, Bunn did well to come out and smother the ball.

The second half began to resembled the type of game usually played between these two sides as it took a more physical turn, with James Perch picking up a yellow card along with two United players in the space of four minutes.

And United's style of play started to have an effect when Mark Yeates' effort from the edge of the penalty area was only just wide of the target.

Play became far more end-to-end and United threatened when Nick Montgomery burst through from midfield and fed the ball through to Yeates whose effort from 25 yards was caught by Camp.

And Forest made a good break when Cohen made a run forward and his shot was parried by Bunn as far as Anderson on the left, but his effort went into the side netting and it proved to be his last action of the game as he was replaced by Nathan Tyson.

United were on the attack again and a shot in by Richard Cresswell was nodded away at the far post by Perch.

Forest came close to extending their lead when Earnshaw crossed the ball in to Tyson, whose left-foot drive came flying in to force a good save from Bunn who put the ball round for a corner.

United put more and more pressure on as the game entered the final minutes and Forest slowed things down by bringing on their final substitute, with Majewski making way for Guy Moussi.

It was an anxious five minutes of stoppage time as both sides tried to push forward and a great tackle by Perch on substitute Stephen Quinn inside the penalty area prevented United from getting a late equalizer.

Nottingham Forest: Camp, Morgan, Wilson, Gunter, Perch, Cohen, McKenna (C), Anderson(Tyson 73min), Majewski(Moussi 88min), Earnshaw(McGoldrick 80min), Blackstock
Subs not used: Smith, Chambers, Garner, Adebola,
Bookings: Majewski 29min, Perch 52min
Scorer: Earnshaw 4min

Sheffield United: Bunn, Bartley, Gearey(Quinn 39min) Kallio, Montgomery(C), Nosworth, Henderson, Yeates, Williamson(Evans 78min), Ward, Camara(Cresswell 66min)
Subs not used: Bennett, Stewart, Little, Fortune
Bookings: Henderson 46min RED Card, Williamson 53min, Yeates 55min, Tallio 81min,, Cresswell 90+5min

Referee: N S Miller
Attendance: 22,076 Away attn: 1,473