Wood secures Forest vital point in draw with Palace
PREMIER LEAGUE
NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1 (Wood 61')
CRYSTAL PALACE 1 (Mateta 11')
Chris Wood’s superb back-header earned Nottingham Forest a draw in their first game since being docked four points for breaching the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability rules.
Jean Phillipe-Mateta’s 11th minute opener put Crystal Palace ahead. But an improved second half display from Forest made sure they climbed over Luton Town and out of the bottom three after their defeat at Tottenham.
And it was a display that will give manager Nuno Espirito Santo hope that his players can avoid the drop.
The City Ground fans had a message for their team in the wake of the points penalty. They unveiled a banner at the Trent End which read: ’We shall fight and we shall overcome’.
For the first half though, it looked like that level of support would be in vain as Nuno’s side struggled to make an impact.
Palace went ahead when Jefferson Lerma played a through ball for danger man Eberechi Eze, and he slid it to Jean-Philippe Mateta who smashed it into the back of the net from 10 yards for his fourth goal in seven games.
Oliver Glasner’s side had a great chance to make it two before the break. Adam Wharton’s pinpoint pass out Eze put clean through on goal, but Sels spotted the danger and made the save.
Wharton fed Eze again six minutes after the break, but this time the Palace forward put his wide of the far post. But Forest were coming into the game and Callum Hudson-Odoi brought a save out of former City Ground loanee Dean Henderson.
Forest got their reward just after the hour mark though when Wood found the net for the second successive game. Gibbs-White pumped a ball into the Palace box and Wood cleverly back-headed the ball over the stranded
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