Chris Wood netted his fifth goal of the season as Nottingham Forest sealed their first home victory since April against winless Crystal Palace on Monday night.
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Oliver Glasner's Palace produced an encouraging performance, but it ultimately ended in defeat - their eighth league match without a victory.
Chances were aplenty in an entertaining first half, with both sides denied by the woodwork, while Wood spurned a pair of golden opportunities.
The Forest talisman atoned for his first-half struggles after 65 minutes, however, when Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson failed to keep out a tame effort from the edge of the area.
The narrow victory lifted battling Forest - who were helped by Matz Sels’ heroics in goal - to eighth in the table, while Palace sit 18th, a point adrift of Ipswich Town.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
17 | +6 | 28 |
| 6 |
Aston Villa
AVL
|
17 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 |
Man City
MCI
|
17 | +4 | 27 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
17 | +6 | 26 |
| 9 |
Fulham
FUL
|
17 | +2 | 25 |
How the match unfolded
Eberechi Eze steered narrowly wide of the top-left corner just five minutes in, while Wood saw a header cleared off the line by Jefferson Lerma before nodding another glorious chance over.
Eddie Nketiah's swerving long-range strike clipped the outside of Sels' left-hand post as an end-to-end opening continued, with Ryan Yates' looping header also kept out by the woodwork at the other end.
Sels produced an eye-catching stop after the interval, tipping Eze's ferocious 30-yard drive away from the top-right corner via the help of the crossbar to keep his side level.
That Sels stop was in contrast to Henderson's attempted save when Wood rifled a right-footed effort into the bottom-left corner after Trevoh Chalobah had failed to clear. The ball squirmed under the outstretched right hand of the Palace 'keeper, who put his face to the turf in frustration.
The impressive Sels pushed away substitute Jeffrey Schlupp's curling attempt late on as the Forest 'keeper's impressive showing deservedly secured three points for the hosts.
Forest sparked into life by Wood
With Nuno Espirito Santo suspended from touchline duties due to his "unacceptable behaviour" against Brighton & Hove Albion, Forest showed no signs of missing their boss.
Elliot Anderson set the tone with a mazy run that culminated in forcing a smart stop from Henderson before the Forest midfielder produced a delightful delivery for Wood, who should have finished with a flicked header.
The same duo linked up on the stroke of half-time as Anderson whipped a delivery in from the left, though Wood's stretching volley dropped tamely for Henderson to collect in another opportunity that went amiss.
A moment of fortune proved pivotal, though, as Wood finally breached the Palace defence when his hopeful right-footed drive slipped under Henderson, who did well shortly after to kick away from Anderson.
At the other end, Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic did just enough to keep the bright Nketiah quiet, while Sels was in inspired form to help Forest record their first home win of the season.
That solid defence, coupled with an improvement in finishing, will have Nuno optimistic about building on their eighth-place position when they visit rivals Leicester City on Friday under the lights at the King Power Stadium.
Wasteful Palace punished
Despite their early-season struggles, Palace did not appear a side devoid of confidence or short of attacking ambition at the City Ground, though finishing issues remain aplenty for the Eagles.
Nketiah got the nod ahead of Jean-Philippe Mateta and looked good value for his selection, twice forcing routine saves from Sels in between testing the frame of the goal with an ambitious right-footed drive.
Daichi Kamada rushed another presentable opportunity after being found unmarked from Daniel Munoz's right-wing cross as wasteful Palace struggled to make their openings count.
Sels was once again on hand to thwart Eze's volley after the break, and the follow-up attempt from Kamada, whose inexplicable close-range miss was spared by a belated offside flag.
Eze saw another long-range effort deflected over as Palace upped the intensity just past the hour, though Henderson's shortfalls at the other end ultimately undid any signs of promise from the visitors.
Schlupp almost rescued a point with nine minutes remaining, but his left-footed shot towards the top-left corner resulted in another fine stop from in-form Sels.
Having failed to find the net in half of their eight league matches so far, Glasner desperately needs improvements heading into Sunday's London derby at home to Tottenham Hotspur.
Club reports
Nott'm Forest report | Crystal Palace report
What managers said
Nuno Espirito Santo: "It feels good, especially for the fans. They've been waiting for this moment [winning at home].
"I think it's not only the goal Chris [Wood] gives us, also the way he works is amazing. We are delighted.
"When you're goalkeeper is your best player on the team it says a lot. But also it says Palace is a tough team. Matz [Sels] once again kept us solid. It's important."
Oliver Glasner: "I saw the team fighting from the first to the last second, we created chances, hit the post twice. At the moment [we] don't score goals and we have to be honest. No goal today, no goal v Liverpool, no goal v United, and if you play like this it is difficult to win.
"We make one mistake and we get punished. That is the situation we are in. But the only guys that are in this team can turn it around."
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Key facts
The 2024/25 season has become the first in top-flight history in which as many as four different sides have all failed to win any of their first eight matches of the campaign - Wolves (D1 L7), Southampton (D1 L7), Ipswich (D4 L4) and Palace (D3 L5).
Nott'm Forest secured their first home Premier League win since beating Fulham 3-1 in April, ending a six-match winless league run at the City Ground.
Each of Wood’s last five Premier League goals for Nott'm Forest have put them 1-0 up. Indeed, since the start of last season, only Erling Haaland (12), Cole Palmer (nine) and Dominic Solanke (nine) have scored more openers in the competition than Wood (eight).
Since their top-flight return in 2013/14, Palace have failed to score in 150 Premier League matches, 28 more than any other side (Newcastle United and Everton, both 122).
