Gibbs-white’s rescue mission foiled by Cunha
MORGAN GIBBSWHITE put his fingers in his ears to silence his critics – but the relegation bells still rang out at the City Ground.
The Forest playmaker looked to have inspired Nuno Espirito Santo’s men to a precious win but they failed to cling on to their hard-won advantage as Gary O’neil’s Black Country battlers signalled they aren’t ready to pack their beach towels just yet.
After Matheus Cunha had scored one of the goals of the season by running from inside his own half to open the scoring, Gibbs-white (right) gave Forest hope by nodding home the equaliser, prompting a pointed celebration to the club that gave him his chance.
After the break, he then caused chaos in the visiting ranks, allowing Danilo to fire the hosts towards a victory that would have given them some breathing space from the Premier League’s stragglers.
With Luton being thumped at the
Etihad, this was a golden chance to put some distance between them and the relegation pack but Cunha poked home from a corner – and Forest were left frustrated at the final whistle.
Nuno’s men will feel slightly more aggrieved as they did most of the running while Wolves’ forwards fed off scraps. And it was not lost on the Portuguese boss how vital the dropped two points could be come May.
He said: “We are in a fight. It’s going to be a tough one but we’ll give it our all. It’s a wasted opportunity. We did enough.
“It is disappointing with the way we conceded but offensively we were the better team. We were dominant and had chances.
“It’s very frustrating, not only for me but for all of us – the players and the fans. It’s very frustrating. Beside the need we had, we were better so it’s a missed opportunity. We are all sad and disappointed.”
Wolves, who are playing with a sizeable injury list, look set for a midtable finish as European qualification now looks out of reach with no wins in the last four.
But boss Gary O’neil is proud of his side after having only 12 senior outfield players to pick from.
“We are getting a bit closer, we have got people coming back but still a very tough puzzle to put together at the moment, for me and the guys,” he said. FOREST: Sels 6, Williams 7, Omobamidele 6, Murillo 7, Aina 6; (Tavares 89) Yates 6, (Dominguez 66, 5) Danilo 7; (Ribeiro
89) Reyna 5, (Origi 71, 5) Gibbs-white 9, Hudson-odoi 5; Wood 5.
WOLVES: Sa 6, S Bueno 5, Kilman 7, Toti 6; Semedo 6, (Chirewa 87) Gomez 6, (Hwang 58, 5) Doyle 6, Lamina 6, Doherty 5; (H Bueno 58, 5) Sarabia 5, (Fraser 87) Cunha 8 (Traore 76).
MAN OF THE MATCH: MORGAN GIBBSWHITE – Chiefly responsible for dragging Forest back into this.
REF: C Pawson ATT: 29,604