The words ‘This is a big one’ were inescapable ahead of kick-off at the City Ground, and it likely won’t be the last time before the end of the season. Each and every game will feel like a seven-pointer from here on for Nottingham Forest, and as such the one their 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace earns them will perhaps feel two too little.
Chris Wood’s brilliant improvised equaliser on 61 minutes was just reward for a much improved attacking second half display from the hosts, after Jean-Philippe Mateta had netted the opener inside 10 minutes.
Eberechi Eze twice came close to a second, while Daniel Munoz was a lick of paint away from an 87th-minute winner, while Dean Henderson endured a busy second half, but come the final whistle, there was nothing to separate the two sides.
More importantly for Forest, though, Son Heung-min’s late winner against Luton lifted Forest out the relegation zone at least until Tuesday.
‘The team showed character, and we’re out of the relegation zone. We need to capitalise in the next one, because we need to climb up the table,’ said Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
Chris Wood took his Premier League tally for the season to double figures to secure a point for Nottingham Forest against Crystal Palace
Wood headed past former Forest keeper Dean Henderson to make it back-to-back draws for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side
‘We realise that we are in a tough position, but honestly from the fans we can’t ever complain. It’s up to us and our actions to engage the City Ground.
‘Its very tight, and there are some teams involved in that fight, but we have to focus on ourselves. This point is good but against Fulham it’s going to be tough.’
It only took 307 days and a change of manager from both sides to get a goal between these two, Mateta scoring his third in five games to momentarily silence the rampant home supporters.
An inch-perfect pass from Jefferson Lerma fed Eze, who rolled it into Mateta’s path for the forward to convert past Matz Sels.
The hosts were not without threat, however. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Ola Aina combined well down the left, though the final product was often erroneous, while Morgan Gibbs-White was easily the most dangerous player in a red shirt.
Eze should have made it 2-0 on 37 minutes after a defence-splitting ball through the middle from Adam Wharton, but Sels was quick off his line to prevent the England international from lifting the ball over his head.
But it was Forest that played the better football in the first half, the wingers linking well with Gibbs-White and Wood in and around the box. But it was shots the crowd called for in a frustrating first half, that sentiment strengthened by their side’s continued refusal to comply.
Jean Philippe-Mateta broke the deadlock for Palace after just 11 minutes at the City Ground
Both sides had chances in the second half but were unable to find the back of the net
Forest looked the more likely to secure victory late on but were forced to settle for a point
An attacking change came at the break with forward Anthony Elanga on for midfielder Ibrahim Sangare, and the result was plain to see – despite Eze again coming close in the opening minutes of the second half.
The hosts came out firing after the break, and earned their reward with Wood’s header, contemptuously flicked over Henderson from close range with the back of his head after a sublime cross from Gibbs-White.
‘It feels like an open wound that someone has stuck a finger in,’ Oliver Glasner said of the result. ‘It feels like two lost points.
‘We took the lead and normally you should have confidence. We were under a lot of pressure, and we lost dead balls early, then we were much better before half-time.
Oliver Glasner admitted that conceding in the second half to Forest felt like ‘a lost two points’
Daniel Munoz was narrowly denied a late winner by the post with the Eagles still without a league away win in their last nine matches
‘At the end what counts is the result, but a point in an away game I was told in the Premier League is a good point.’
That goal seemingly lit a fire beneath the hosts, who flooded forward with regularity as Palace withstood phase after phase of the red onslaught.
Gio Reyna stung Henderson’s palms, while the shots missing from the first half rained in on the visitors’ goal.
Palace would not go quietly as they pursued a first Premier League win against Forest, and only a lick of paint on Sels’ back post denied Munoz an 87th minute winner, but despite a late surge from the visitors, the Eagles returned to the capital still without a league away win in their last nine attempts.
