5 May 2025
Crystal Palace 1 Nott’m Forest 1
Oliver Glasner is having a season to remember with Crystal Palace as they look forward to an FA Cup final against Man City. They welcomed Nott’m Forest to Selhurst Park with the visitors having hit a bad run of form. They are in danger of dropping out of the Champions League qualification spots as they struggle to cope with the final hurdle, having spent most of the season in the top four.
It was the hosts who carved out the first opening in the match. Kamada fed the ball out wide to Mitchell, who put a deep cross into the box. Munoz arrived late at the back post to meet it but his effort was straight at Sels who beat it away. It was a disappointing miss, either side of the keeper and The Eagles would have had an early lead.
Mateta tried to fire a shot off from the edge of the box but it was well-blocked. The visitors picked up the loose ball and transitioned from defence into attack in an instant. Wood laid it off into the path of Elanga but his swerving effort was brilliantly saved by Henderson. Despite diving the wrong way, an out-stretched hand denied the Forest winger a goal.
It was a half of very few chances as the two sides seemed to cancel each other out. The Eagles have little to play for in the league now and will just be looking to keep their key players fit for the cup final at the end of the season. Forest should have the hunger at this point of the campaign, with their Champions League qualification in real jeopardy.
Both teams went into the break having not been able to break the deadlock. There had been little to get the fans out of their seats for in all fairness. Nuno Espirito Santo will be most annoyed with his side’s performance, they just do not seem to be clicking in the final third and are not scoring the goals needed to seal victories at the business end of the season.
After the interval, the hosts tried to take it up a gear. Eze ran forward towards the Forest box before passing to Sarr, with just the keeper to beat. To his credit, Sels was quick off his line and made an impressive block to keep his team in this game. It was one of the first times we had seen Eze strutting his stuff in this game and he was going to be pivotal to The Eagles’ chances you felt.
Forest were looking just as dangerous when attacking with pace. Aina came forward down the right wing and picked the perfect cross into Wood in the penalty area. The Kiwi striker looked to get a shot off quickly but a superb block from Lacroix saw his effort deflect narrowly wide of the far post. You felt we would not have to wait much longer for a goal in the capital.
A speculative ball into the box saw Mitchell get there before both Murillo and Sels as the keeper seemed to bring him down as he took it around him. The referee waved away the protests from the Palace players but a VAR review sent him to the monitor. It is boringly predictable what that means now and his decision was reversed with the spot kick being awarded.
Eze stepped up and stroked it past Sels into the far corner. The keeper guessed the right way but the Palace winger put enough height on it that he was never going to save it. Selhurst Park erupted as it nestled into the back of the net. The pressure was well and truly on the visitors now, they needed wins and were trailing in this match with half an hour remaining.
The travelling fans did not have to wait long to see their team back on level terms. As Nott’m Forest whipped a corner into the box, it was half-cleared to Williams just outside the box. His shot was heading well wide of the target but Murillo flicked it into the far corner of the goal, with Henderson having committed to a dive in the opposite direction.
It was just what Nuno Espirito Santo would have wanted from his team and there was plenty of time for them to still find a winner. To be fair, it was a strange game as it was fairly even and neither side probably deserved to win it but both had more than enough chances to do exactly that. You felt we had not seen the last of the goals in this game.
In fact, it was Oliver Glasner’s side who came closest to taking all three points. Sarr cut inside from out wide and laid it into the path of Eze. He shifted from his left onto his right foot, side-stepped a challenge and looked to bend one in the top corner. It had Sels beaten but came thundering back off the crossbar. He was inches away from a stunning winner.
The points were shared and did Forest no favours. Pundits will say their Champions League destiny is in their own hands, with victory over Chelsea needed at the City Ground in their final game of the season. However, only just a month ago they were in a much better position, only needing to match the results of their rivals to book a top five spot.
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