Chris Wood continued his fine form for Nottingham Forest as his two goals helped them to a 3-1 East Midlands derby win over former boss Steve Cooper's Leicester City to go fifth in the table.
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Ryan Yates profited from Leicester’s failure to clear their lines for the opening goal, curling an effort beyond Mads Hermansen for only his second Premier League strike.
The Foxes drew level through Jamie Vardy soon afterwards, though, with the veteran forward rounding off a fine move with a neat finish at the near post.
But two goals in 13 second-half minutes from Wood sealed Forest's win, the striker finishing brilliantly on the turn before heading home to make it a brace against his former club.
The result moves Nott'm Forest to fifth, a point off the top four ahead of this weekend's action, while Leicester remain in 14th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
11 | +6 | 19 |
| 5 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
11 | +5 | 19 |
| 6 |
Brighton
BHA
|
11 | +4 | 19 |
| 7 |
Fulham
FUL
|
11 | +3 | 18 |
| 8 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
11 | +2 | 18 |
How the match unfolded
An open start swung Forest's way as Facundo Buonanotte and James Justin’s attempts to clear the ball fell to Yates, who punished Leicester's slack defending in the 16th minute.
But Forest's joy was short-lived when some neat build-up play ended with Harry Winks crossing for Vardy to poke beyond Matz Sels for his 194th Leicester goal seven minutes later.
However, it was Hermansen who ended the half the busier of the two goalkeepers, producing two stunning saves to deny Nicolas Dominguez and Callum Hudson-Odoi.
Just two minutes after the restart, Forest regained their advantage when Wood turned neatly on the edge of the box before firing home for his third goal in as many matches.
The triumph was capped on the hour-mark when Wood capitalised on another defensive lapse, this time from Wout Faes, as he looped a header over Hermansen to seal the bragging rights for Forest.
Foxes made to pay for defensive errors
Leicester became known for their composed attempts to play out from the back under former boss Enzo Maresca, but they only played themselves into trouble on Friday.
After a bright start, Buonanotte’s attempts to dribble the ball to safety were halted by Murillo, and mere seconds later, Justin’s skewed clearance was punished emphatically by Yates.
Despite Vardy getting them back on track, Leicester failed to learn from their previous mistake when Winks’ poor pass out from the back was picked off by Alex Moreno, with the ball eventually making its way to Wood, who finished smartly.
Yet another mistake would follow as Forest made it three. Selz’s long punt upfield was not dealt with by Faes, whose poor header handed Wood the perfect opportunity to grab his brace, and the hosts never looked likely to recover from there.
Though the Foxes had found their feet in the Premier League with back-to-back victories heading into this match, they were reminded that the slightest of mistakes can be punished in a flash in the top flight.
No Nuno, no problem
Nuno Espirito Santo watched from the stands at the King Power Stadium as he served the second match of his three-match ban, but the Forest boss will have been delighted to see his side continue their fine start to the season.
An open start saw chances fall to Buonanotte and Wilfred Ndidi, but the visitors were able to make the breakthrough, albeit through an unlikely source in Yates.
After Vardy pegged Forest back, Wood continued his rich vein of form with a dominant second-half performance, though Nuno did not see the New Zealander’s first goal, returning to his seat eight minutes after the restart.
But he was situated to see Wood notch his second of the evening, with the 32-year-old becoming the joint-second highest goalscorer for Forest in the Premier League, joining Stan Collymore on 22 top-flight goals for the club.
The visitors should have added some gloss to the scoreline late on as Murillo’s scuffed effort found Yates six yards out. The midfielder fired over, though it had no effect on the result in the end as Forest climbed to fifth.
Club reports
Leicester report | Forest report
What managers said
Steve Cooper: “There’s going to be loads of ups and downs this season and that's the nature of the league, where we're trying to get establishment in the Premier League - it ain't easy. You see the last two games, some highs, today was a low and even more difficult because it was a local game but there will be lots of ups and downs this year and how we recover from setbacks will define where we end up and we've got to go through that process now."
Nuno Espirito Santo: "He's [Chris wood] done an amazing job. He's very honest and he gives everything on the pitch for us. We are delighted and we want to continue. Chris deserves his plaudits."
Next Premier League fixtures
Key facts
Since Nuno's first game in charge of Nott'm Forest (23 December, 2023), only Erling Haaland (18) has scored more non-penalty goals in the Premier League than Wood (17).
Only Liverpool (12) have earned more away points in the Premier League this season than Nott'm Forest (11). Indeed, only in 1909/10 (13), 1950/51 (13), 1957/58 (12), and 1987/88 (12) have the Nott'm Forest ever had more points from their opening five away matches of a league campaign (assuming 3 points/win all-time).
Leicester have played 14 Premier League matches on a Friday but won just one of them (D4 L9), a win rate of 7 per cent; among sides to play more than five times on this particular day of the week in the competition, only Crystal Palace (0 per cent - 0/10) have a poorer win ratio.
Nott'm Forest have won back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time since December 2023. Nott'm Forest have won four of their nine league matches this season (D4 L1), as many as their final 18 of last term (W4 D4 L10).