Nottingham Forest  1-1 Crystal Palace

Gibbs-White 5'                              Sarr 45+2' (Pen)

Since the summer, these two have headlined many news stories. For all the wrong reasons. Forest are on their third manager of the season and sit 17th, despite spending more than Real Madrid and Barcelona in the summer transfer window. Glasner announced he would be leaving at the end of the season but club captain Marc Guehi already departed, leaving the club for only £20 million late on in the January window. They both had the excitement of European campaigns this season (a whole other matter between the sides) but things have been quite gloomy so far. 

Last week, Forest took three crucial points away from the Gtech Community Stadium, in response to relegation rivals West Ham also winning. They do currently sit just above the drop zone but a win could see them fly to eight points clear, moving level on points with today’s opponents who sit in 15th. Crystal Palace suffered a 3-1 defeat to Chelsea at home last time out. The Eagles are currently winless in eight and need a result to boost their chances of not falling into a survival fight. The Reds would fancy their chances against the Eagles, as they have not beaten Forest since Forest’s return to the Premier League. Palace haven’t won in eleven games against Forest, the most they’ve ever faced a side without winning and for the Reds, the Eagles are the side they’ve faced most without losing. 

Dyche named an unchanged XI from their 2-0 win over Brentford, looking for a repeat outcome. Glasner made three changes, the most notable being ex-Derby man, Will Hughes coming in for the suspended Adam Wharton after his red card against Chelsea. 

Just three minutes in, the visitors had a good chance to take an early lead. They had broken away on the counter which ended up with a Hughes’ shot from the edge of the box blocked bravely by Williams. Unfortunately for him, the ball landed to Lerma who controlled the ball with his knee and let it bounce before hitting it on the volley. It was heading towards the bottom left corner, but Sels got across to make the save. 

The Eagles couldn’t build on their bright start as they were pegged back two minutes later. Aina launched a long throw into the box from the right which bounced around as Palace struggled to clear. Dominguez was the third player to head the ball up into the air but Gibbs-White chested this down before calmly side-footing into the bottom left corner from close range. If his side could hold onto their lead, which they often do, avoiding defeat in the last eleven games they’ve taken the lead, Dyche would have his 100th Premier League win. 

Palace didn’t seem to let this shake them as they responded well. Their best chance in this spell came from Johnson whipping in a delightful ball from the right and Lacroix heading just over from six yards. Forest realised this threat so turned up the tempo themselves, getting forward and creating chances. Gibbs-White narrowly missed a tap in at the back post after Jesus rolled in a low cross from the left and Jesus’s effort from a tight angle on the right was deflected just wide of the far post. 

The rest of the half went flat as the game slowed down; all in preparation for the drama to unfold in injury time. Hughes’ corner from the right was a deep one but it was met by an unmarked Lerma at the back post. His header looked to be sailing into the top right corner but Williams had other ideas. His ‘keeper, Matz Sels, must’ve been given him tips in training as he produced a one handed save on the line. This saw him with his first red card of his career and Palace were handed the perfect opportunity to level. Sarr stood over the ball from 12 yards and rolled it straight down the middle. A brilliant half for Forest unravelled in a moment of madness. One they may be paying for by the end of the game. 

Things went from bad to worse. Dyche had to turn to his bench as both Sels and Hudson-Odoi needed to be replaced due to injury. This meant a Forest debut for Angus Gunn. However, it was the Reds who had the better second half. After a dominant spell from Palace in the opening few minutes, Forest took control and looked the more likely to win the game, despite having a number disadvantage. Chances were created for both sides but they were all well over the bar or well wide of the post, meaning neither ‘keeper had a real save to make. Forest stay 17th whilst Palace climb one place to 14th. 

I’m proud of the performance we saw. We played really well in that first half, and we could’ve even scored more. I feel like Williams has slightly cost us the three points, but he has saved us so many times and he is always one of our best players each week, so I don’t want to put all the blame on him. That man disadvantage could’ve showed in the second half, but it didn’t. I thought that we were the ones taking the game to Palace and that we actually looked the more likely to win the game. The fight and work ethic we showed was something to be really positive about. 

Forest: Sels (Gunn 46’); Williams, Murillo, Milenkovic, Aina; Anderson, Sangare; Dominguez (Morato 45’), Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi (Yates 46’); Jesus (Ndoye 70’) 

Crystal Palace: Henderson; Riad (Uche 61’), Lacroix, Richards; Mitchell, Lerma, Hughes, Munoz; Johnson, Sarr; Pino