Nottingham Forest draws with Crystal Palace to move out of EPL drop zone
NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Nottingham Forest moved out of the relegation zone again after drawing with Crystal Palace 1-1 in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Chris Wood scored his seventh goal in eight league games near the hour mark after Jean-Philippe Mateta put Palace in the driving seat early.
It was Forest's first match since it was hit by a four-point deduction for breaking the competition rules regarding profitability and sustainability. It has appealed the sanction, which dropped Forest to 18th place.
Forest moved back to 17th place, level on points with 18th-placed Luton, which lost to Tottenham on Saturday. Crystal Palace was 14th.
Forest was the dominant team after conceding but had to be patient before seeing its grip translate into clear-cut chances.
Forest came close to being punished again before the interval but was saved by goalkeeper Matz Sels, who denied a good effort by Eberechi Eze.
Wood equalized with his back to the goal, sending the ball into the far corner from Morgan Gibbs-White's pass for his 10th goal of the season.
“We wanted another result. In these games at home we expect more, we wanted more,” Nottingham Forest coach Nuno Espirito Santo said. “The game started badly so the reaction was a positive but, at the same time, I think we did enough. We were more dominant, we controlled the game."
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