Crystal Palace (A) 24/08/25

Crystal Palace 1-1 Nottingham Forest 

 Sarr 37’                                  Hudson-Odoi 57’                                      

 
The El CASico. A game overhyped in the media. Forest labelled the villains for the Palace hierarchy’s incompetence when all the Reds did was take the Eagle’s place as rules weren't followed. The chants and the banners were bound to be centered around the split opinions of Mr Marinakis but both sets of fans could agree the most likely outcome of the game. Another draw.  
 
Nuno surprisingly announced in his press conference that his relationship with the owner ‘had changed’ and they are ’not as close’ forcing questions about the future of his role as head coach. However, he would be on the touch line for the fixture and name an unchanged starting 11. Forest’s 4 new signings were included in the squad but on the bench. Glasner made 2 changes to his defence as his side played in the Conference League on Thursday.  
 
Forest had the first real chance of the game through talisman Chris Wood. Morgan Gibbs-White had possession of the ball on the right side before beating Tyrick Mitchell to create space to put in a low cross for Wood. The striker took the ball first time but the effort flashed just wide of the right post. The visitors enjoyed a period of pressure on the Palace defence but couldn't find an advantage.  
 
Forest couldn't keep their foothold on the game as Palace started to dominate and up the tempo. Forest lost the ball in midfield before Murillo seemed to have clear the danger. Unfortunately for him, Will Hughes latched onto the ball before playing into Mateta. He took a few touches before letting fire from the edge of the ‘D’ and forcing Sels into a good save. The hosts continued to pen Forest in and got their rewards. After clearing the initial danger from a Palace attack, Gibbs-White attempted a flick on the edge of his own box to give the Eagles possession back through Hughes. He found Adam Wharton who played to Munoz on the right. His low cross was well-finished by an unmarked Ismaila Sarr from around 8 yards out.  
 
Palace remained on top, hunting to double their advantage. They came close in first half added time, from a Marc Guehi header following a Wharton free kick. The midfielder whipped in the dead ball from 25 yards out towards the back post where Guehi managed to lose his marker but his header could only find the post.  
 
Forest came out in the second half the stronger side but struggled to break down Palace’s compact shape until some magic from Dan Ndoye. Murillo played the ball long under pressure for Ndoye to bring down with his chest. The Swiss saw the run of Callum Hudson-Odoi and played a lovely defence splitting pass to the Englishman. Hudson-Odoi continued his run, bearing down on goal before finishing beyond Henderson to bring the scores level. Ndoye is the first Forest player since Geoff Thomas in 1998 to score or assist in each of his first 2 appearances for the club.  
 
The second half continued to be dominated by the visitors with the Reds’ newest recruits coming on to make an impact. One new man, striker Igor Jesus almost gave Forest the lead in the 93rd minute. Murillo won back possession deep into his own half and took a few strides before playing a lovely pass to put his fellow Brazilian through on goal. Jesus took the ball to a tighter angle to make the chance more difficult, but his chance hit the inside of the far post. Forest almost took the lead in the 95th minute too through another new man, Omari Hutchinson. Neco Williams hopefully punted the ball forward which was headed by Lacroix into the path of Hutchinson. Dean Henderson came rushing out to meet him to make the chance more difficult for the youngster as he fired over. 

Sunday was a game of 2 halves. In the first half, we struggled to win the midfield battle as Sangare was left on his own, allowing Palace to create chances. The wingers were too narrow leaving the full backs one on one. However, in the second half, we managed to get more of a foothold on the game and we looked the better side. McAtee came on and made the biggest impact for me. It was also nice to see we weren't just playing for the point and we had desire to go win the game. Onto the Europa League draw on Friday and West Ham on Sunday! 

Forest: Sels; Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams; Sangare (Yates 88’), Anderson; Ndoye (Kalimuendo 71’), Gibbs-White (Hutchinson 82’), Hudson-Odoi (McAtee 72’); Wood (Igor Jesus 88’) 

Crystal Palace: Henderson; Richards, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Wharton (Lerma 82’), Hughes, Mitchell; Sarr, Devenny (Esse 66’); Mateta (Edouard 88’)