Nottingham Forest moved out of the relegation zone after coming from behind to earn a 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace thanks to Chris Wood's brilliant header.
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Jean-Philippe Mateta gave Palace an 11th-minute lead, but Wood equalised in the second half with a wonderful header to secure the point.
Forest move above Luton Town, who lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur, on goal difference while Palace are eight points ahead of the bottom three.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 |
Wolves
WOL
|
38 | -15 | 46 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
38 | -11 | 40 |
| 16 |
Brentford
BRE
|
38 | -9 | 39 |
| 17 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
38 | -18 | 32 |
| 18 |
Luton
LUT
|
38 | -33 | 26 |
| 19 |
Burnley
BUR
|
38 | -37 | 24 |
| 20 |
Sheffield Utd
SHU
|
38 | -69 | 16 |
How the match unfolded
Forest made three changes as Felipe, Ola Aina and Callum Hudson-Odoi replaced Harry Toffolo, Willy Boly and Anthony Elanga.
Dean Henderson was Palace’s sole change as he came in for Sam Johnstone, who was ruled out for the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
Palace took the lead after 11 minutes as Mateta finished a well-worked move with a great strike. Jefferson Lerma found Eberechi Eze in the area with a driven pass and the midfielder laid the ball off to Mateta, who scored with a first-time strike past Matz Sels.
Despite a good spell from Forest after the goal, Eze had the next chance to score after a brilliant through-pass from Adam Wharton put him in on goal, but the winger could only shoot straight at Sels.
Eze and Wharton combined again early in the second half as Palace looked to catch Forest out with a short-corner routine, but Eze’s curling effort went beyond the far post.
Hudson-Odoi went close for Forest after he cut inside Daniel Munoz and fired a shot at goal, but Henderson made a good save to his left.
Forest did manage to equalise just after the hour mark. Wood cleverly beat Henderson with a looping header after Gibbs-White’s chipped the ball over the defence had found the striker, who showed great technique to guide his header beyond the goalkeeper. It was the New Zealander’s fifth headed goal of the season, a league-high.
Palace kept coming forward though and Eze was at the heart of their attack again when he dribbled past three players before the ball rebounded to him in the box, however Sels did well to close the angle and stop the shot.
Forest dominated possession as they looked to find a late winner. Substitute Giovanni Reyna had a shot saved by Henderson before Gibbs-White smashed an effort over the bar moments later.
Neco Williams then nearly turned the ball into his own net with four minutes to go after his header cannoned off the post from Eze’s corner.
Both sides pushed for all three points but had to settle for one each. The draw moves Forest up to 17th on 22 points while Palace remain in 14th on 30 points.
Club reports
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Forest have lost none of their eight Premier League meetings with Palace (W3 D5), both the most they’ve faced a side without ever losing and the most the Eagles have faced a side without ever winning in the competition.
Palace have failed to win any of their last nine Premier League away games (D4 L5), since a 2-0 win at Burnley in November. However, they have scored in all but one of those matches (a 5-0 loss at Arsenal in January).
Wood has scored nine goals in his last 11 Premier League starts and also has five goals in his last 10 league starts against Palace.
Mateta has five goal involvements in his last seven Premier League appearances for Palace (four goals, one assist), as many as in his previous 25. The 2023/24 season is now the Frenchman’s outright top-scoring campaign in the competition (six goals).
