Nott'm Forest 1 Crystal Palace 1
After having a four-point deduction, Nott’m Forest have found themselves caught up in the Premier League bottom three. With no victory in their last nine games, it is not looking good for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side. Things needed to change at the City Ground as they welcomed Crystal Palace.
As the game started, the visitors could sense the weak underbelly of their opponents. They knew if they could get the first goal, Forest may not recover. With Eze back in the side after injury, Oliver Glasner’s side had every chance of unlocking them at will.
It was just such a situation as Lerma found Eze making a run towards the box, he laid the ball off to Mateta, who drilled his shot into the top corner of the goal. If you wanted to find a way to silence the City Ground, then this was it, with only ten minutes played.
Wharton then threaded a brilliant pass through the middle to find the run of Eze. As Sels came racing off his line to meet him, the Palace winger got to the ball just before him but the Forest keeper was able to make an important block to deny them.
Credit: @premierleague
Nott’m Forest were really struggling to find their groove. Over the course of the first half, they had barely threatened the Palace goal at all. That said, the visitors had only managed to do so a couple of times but more importantly, they had a slender lead.
Confidence is a huge part of football. When things were going well, Forest have looked like they are match for anyone at home. Currently, they are a long way from this. It really seems that their points deduction has hurt them mentally and they are struggling to recover.
As the second half started, an innocuous ball forward was headed behind by Yates when there was no pressure on him or the Forest goal. Wharton was picked out on the edge of the box from the corner and threaded a great ball back to Eze.
The Palace talisman ran into the box from a tight angle but only had one thing on his mind. He tried to bend a shot into the far corner and was inches away from doing so. At this stage you felt another goal for the visitors would put this game to bed.
In a rare foray forward, Gibbs-White clipped a ball into the box towards Wood. He met it with his head and flicked on past Henderson to draw the sides level. Suddenly the City Ground erupted, feeling that this was the moment that would turn the game on its head.
Eberechi Eze continued to cause problems for Forest. At times it seems like the ball is glued to his boots. As he weaved his way in from out wide, nobody could get the ball off him. Finally, he had a sight of goal but the Forest keeper was able to make a good block to deny him.
Credit: @premierleague
The hosts tried to ask questions of The Eagles but Reyna’s shot from outside the box was straight at Henderson, who punched it clear. Hudson-Odoi and Origi had gone missing in the game far too much and Forest were lacking creativity up top.
Espirito-Santo made changes to try and buck the trend. Palace continued to stretch the hosts’ defence and all too often it was Eze asking the questions. As he whipped in a cross, Munoz flicked it on but saw his effort rebound off the post and come back into play.
Neither side could get the goal they craved to take all three points. For Forest, due to results elsewhere, it was enough to take them out of the bottom three on goal difference. Palace opened up an eight point gap between themselves and Luton Town.
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