Wood does the trick to save Nuno
CHRIS WOOD’S clever secondhalf equaliser hoisted Nottingham Forest out of the relegation zone. But every game from now until the end of the season will surely feel like a six-pointer.
The strike meant a draw in Forest’s first game since their four-point Financial Fair Play deduction. But it will have felt like too little, given their plight.
The phrase ‘this is a big one’ was inescapable ahead of kick-off at the City Ground and it most likely will not be the last time it is heard during this run-in.
Wood scored after 61 minutes with an improvised back header which he boldly flicked over goalkeeper Dean Henderson following a sublime cross from Morgan Gibbs-White.
It was just reward for an improved second half from Forest, after Jean-Philippe
Mateta put Crystal Palace ahead in the 11th minute.
‘The team showed character. We need to capitalise in the next game because we need to climb up the table,’ said Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo. ‘It is very tight and there are some good teams involved in that fight.
‘This point is good. But against Fulham here on Tuesday, it’s going to be tough.’
Mateta opened the scoring with his third goal for Palace in five games when he slotted home after being set up by Eberechi Eze’s pass.
Eze should have made it 2-0 in the 37th minute after a defencesplitting through ball from Adam Wharton. But Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels was sharp to prevent him from lifting the ball over his head.
Eze again came close after the break and despite Forest’s revival, Eagles boss Oliver Glasner claimed it was a missed opportunity for his team.
The Austrian said: ‘It feels like an open wound that someone has stuck a finger in. It feels like two lost points.
‘At the end what counts is the result and a point in an away game in the Premier League is a good point.’