Palace Fight Back to Draw at 10-man Nottingham Forest

At a glance

Morgan Gibbs-White gives hosts the lead
Neco Williams shown a straight red card for Forest
Ismaila Sarr levels with a penalty

Ismaila Sarr’s first-half penalty enabled Crystal Palace to claim a hard-fought Premier League draw at 10-man Nottingham Forest.

The result moves the Eagles up to 14th, while Forest are three points further back in 17th, six clear of the relegation zone.

Sean Dyche will feel that his Forest team arguably deserved better after going ahead when Morgan Gibbs-White calmly chested the ball and opened the scoring with a composed close-range finish.

However, the key moment arrived on the stroke of half-time when home defender Neco Williams was given a straight red card for handling Jefferson Lerma’s goal-bound header.

It provided Palace with a route back into a contest in which they had been distinctly second best, with Senegal forward Sarr stroking home from the penalty spot.

To compound matters for Forest, goalkeeper Matz Sels went off injured at half-time on a day when they unveiled new signing Stefan Ortega prior to kick-off.

But instead of sitting back, the hosts played on the front foot when they could and the likes of Gibbs-White and Ola Aina had opportunities to put them back in front.

While the result arrests Palace’s run of three consecutive defeats they remain without a victory in 12 matches in all competitions. Manager Oliver Glasner will likely be hugely disappointed that the visitors failed to register a single shot on target after the break despite holding the numerical advantage.

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Nottingham Forest analysis: Dyche’s side maintain momentum

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Dyche defends Williams following red card

While the current league table will not make pleasant viewing for Forest supporters, there could be no cause for complaint about the effort or quality of their performance against Palace.

Appearing to be so comfortable with a player less for just over half a game should provide optimism that the momentum established with wins over Brentford and Ferencvaros has been maintained.

Gibbs-White was central to every moment of attacking promise and capped a fine showing with a goal.

Behind him Ibrahim Sangare and Elliot Anderson controlled midfield until Williams’ moment of madness made their task more difficult.

Dyche may have earned a reputation for being pragmatic in some quarters, but his side did not just sit back. They continued to show ambition going forward and richly deserved their point, if not more.

Crystal Palace analysis: Eagles edge closer to safety despite flat performance

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Either Mateta stays or we get a new striker – Glasner

Palace enjoyed a historic campaign in 2024-25 by winning the FA Cup and qualifying for the Uefa Conference League, but this term it has been a complete contrast.

And while they did not suffer a defeat at Forest and edged nine points clear of the bottom three, the manner of their performance was indicative of their current plight.

With wantaway French forward Jean-Philippe Mateta “not in the right place” to feature, Glasner’s team had very little cutting edge throughout the encounter and also lacked the physical presence to alter the dynamic of the game in the second period.

They did not manage a single shot on target following Sarr’s penalty and Sels’ replacement in the Forest goal Angus Gunn was untested in his first domestic outing in nine months.

That the hosts managed to have more efforts on goal and more touches in the opposition box after the break was also a damning indictment of Palace’s flat attacking display.

What’s next for these teams?

Forest travel to play Leeds in their next Premier League game on Friday, 6 February (20:00 GMT). Palace go to rivals Brighton, two days later on Sunday, 8 February (14:00 GMT).

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