Nottingham Forest held Crystal Palace to a 1-1 draw at the City Ground despite Neco Williams being sent off in the first half.
Williams was shown a straight red card by referee Tony Harrington at the end of the first period when he handled a Jefferson Lerma header on the goal line from a corner kick.
Williams’ moment of madness allowed Ismaila Sarr to score from the penalty spot in Jean-Philippe Mateta’s absence. Jean-Philippe Mateta has been given permission to undergo a medical at AC Milan and has been left out of Palace’s squad as he approaches his departure from the club.
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Watch Morgan Gibbs-White’s stunning opening game
Morgan Gibbs-White scored smartly in the box after Palace failed to clear a long throw from Ola Aina, and Forest looked to be in control until then.
The red card appeared to tilt the match in Palace’s favor, but Forest manager Sean Dyche also had to make a substitute goalkeeper as Angus Gunn made his debut in place of Mats Sells with a suspected groin injury.
However, the home team defended resolutely and in the second half, despite having overwhelming possession, Palace could not even get a shot on target, extending their winless record to 12 games.
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Neco Williams handball penalized from the penalty spot
In fact, despite being at a men’s disadvantage, Forest showed some good progress, with Aina hitting a shot into the side netting after the break.
The hard-earned points left the hosts six points clear of the drop zone after 18th-placed West Ham lost to Chelsea.
Crystal Palace are three points clear of 14th-placed Forest and will be hoping to look for reinforcements soon after agreeing a £48m deal with Wolves to sign striker Jorgen Strand Larsen.
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Tim Sherwood and Football Special Teams discuss the impact Oliver Glassner’s future will have on Crystal Palace ahead of his summer departure
Carla: Big takeaway for Forest.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said: “It would feel like a really big point for Nottingham Forest today given their situation.”
“They didn’t concede a goal to Crystal Palace and played through the first half with 10 men.
“If there was an ideal manager in that situation it would be Sean Dyche.They did a really good job in the second half.
“They have a six-point lead, which is a big difference, but West Ham still have a lot of room to play. They are in great form.”
Williams was sent off for handling Jefferson’s Lerma on the line.
Williams leaves the pitch after being shown a red card for intentional handball
Dyche: Red card changed the game
Nottingham Forest manager Sean Dyche told Sky Sports: “A red card changes the whole atmosphere of the game.
“The first half was very good. 1-0 certainly looked like a good result. On another day we could have scored another goal, but we didn’t. Then a mistake led to a corner kick, which was an instinctive reaction from the cat.”
“I’m not going to question him about that because he’s been great for us, but it’s just one of the things.
“But then the mindset shifted back to us. How do we deal with that? How do we contain them and make them look like a threat? I thought we did that very well.”
Regarding Mats Sells’ absence: “We think it’s a groin injury. He will undergo tests as soon as possible. But when Gunny played, his performance was excellent.”
Glasner: “We lost our sense of urgency in the second half”
Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner told Sky Sports: “I’m really happy with the first half, especially the reaction after the first long throw and the fact that we were 1-0 down in all the circumstances coming here to Nottingham. The reaction was great.”
“We scored the equalizer, but in the second half we realized how weak we were. We controlled the game for the first 15 to 20 minutes, but we couldn’t score, we couldn’t create chances, and after that we lost our nerve.
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Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has explained his decision to remove Jean-Philippe Mateta from the Crystal Palace squad.
“We did something we didn’t want to do. We started running with the ball and played into their strong areas. We wanted to use our width and be patient and play more inside the opponent’s half, but the last 25 minutes were really too intense. But you could see all the effort.”
“The first thing I learned when I came to Palace was to respect points, especially away from home, and that’s what we do.
“Under all circumstances, as a group, we arrived after everything that happened during the week, so I’m really happy with our performance in the first half because I think it was a great performance.”
Analysis: Anderson is the perfect midfielder
Morgan Gibbs-White was named Man of the Match, but Elliott Anderson was an equally deserving candidate.
The 23-year-old put in a flawless performance in all aspects of the game, reiterating his status as one of the Premier League’s top central midfielders.
His best work came in the first half of possession, where he demonstrated his technical ability and passing range, repeatedly pushing Forest forward in attack.
He continued to show his on-ball value even after Neco Williams was sent off. Throughout the entire 90 minutes, no Forest player made more touches or passes. Anderson completed all five of his dribble attempts.
However, he was just as influential defensively after the break. Anderson was quick to rise to the challenge and played a key role in frustrating Palace, working tirelessly, soothing and coaching his team-mates.
In total, he won the ball 10 times, the most ever for a player on either team. He was successful in 12 of his 14 duels. An outstanding all-round performance from a player who is constantly improving.
Palace’s worst performance under Glasner – Opta stats
Crystal Palace are without a win in their last nine Premier League games (D3 L6). This was by far the worst streak under coach Oliver Glasner, and the longest overall since March 2023 (12 games). Despite having 74% of possession in the second half against 10 men, Crystal Palace still had fewer shots than Nottingham Forest (4 vs. 7) and fewer touches inside the opposition box (7 vs. 9). The last shot on target of the match was Ismaila Sarr’s penalty for Crystal Palace in first-half stoppage time. Nottingham Forest’s only shot on target was Morgan Gibbs-White’s goal in the fifth minute. Neco Williams’ sending off was the first consecutive red card for handball in the Premier League by an outfield player since Chelsea’s Reece James (against Liverpool) in August 2021. Only Chris Wood (37) and Brian Roy (24) have scored more goals in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest than Morgan Gibbs-White (23).
