NOTTINGHAM, England (Reuters) -Nottingham Forest striker Chris Wood profited from an error by Crystal Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson to give his side a narrow 1-0 Premier League win on Monday that leaves the visitors still without a victory this campaign.
Forest led 20 minutes into the second half when Wood’s low strike from 25 yards beat Henderson at his near post, the latter getting a weak hand to the ball as it squirmed past him and into the net.
Palace twice hit the woodwork but in truth created little in a game that pitted the second best defence in the league against its worst attack, with the London club managing a paltry five goals in their eight games to date.
Forest, who were without manager Nuno Espirito Santo as he serves a touchline ban, rose to eighth place in the table with 13 points from their eight matches, while Palace languish in 18th, still without a win and three points to their name.
“I was just trying to hit the target, I had a few chances in the first half that didn’t go my way,” Wood said of his goal. “It is important we keep going and keep looking forward. We have a big game on Friday (at Leicester City).”
The victory is Forest’s first at home in eight matches in all competitions dating back to April, while Palace have failed to win one of their first eight games of the season for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign.
The pace and energy of the first half made it a very watchable contest and even while that slowed in the second period, Palace will perhaps feel they deserved something from the game.
A mazy run from Forest’s Elliot Anderson’s took him past four defenders in the box but his shot was not strong enough to beat Henderson.
At the other end, Eddie Nketiah’s shot straight at home keeper Matz Sels and then unleashed a shot from 25-yards that struck the outside of the post.
Forest midfielder Ryan Yates saw his looping header come back off the woodwork, while Wood could not steer a superb Callum Hudson-Odoi cross into the goal after a tame connection a few yards out.
Henderson’s error allowed Forest to take the lead and they looked largely comfortable until Eberechi Eze forced a superb save from Sels when his swerving 30-yard strike was pushed onto the crossbar by the keeper.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
