It is aggressively modern football that **Nottingham Forest**and Crystal Palace have forged a newly found rivalry based upon a multi-club ownership rule, a **UEFA**ruling and a letter written by Forest to European football’s governing body about said issue.
Effectively, animosity fuelled by admin.
This was felt throughout the game, mainly from the Palace fans in the stands who continually taunted Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Forest had won the off-field battle, but had to settle for a draw at Selhurst Park, as the sides drew 1-1 for the fourth time in their last six meetings.
Ismaïla Sarr gave the Eagles the lead, as he was unmarked in the Forest box, and had no problem converting Daniel Muñoz’s ball with a lovely guided effort into the bottom corner.
The Tricky Trees drew level on the hour mark, as the wingers combined, with **Dan Ndoye**playing a ball into the path of Callum Hudson-Odoi, who finished with aplomb.
A draw was a fair result for a game that could not quite match the theatre of the courtrooms.
Story of the match
Oliver Glasner made two changes to the team that won the club’s first European game in its history on Thursday night, with Chris Richards coming in for Jefferson Lerma and Tyrick Mitchell replacing summer signing Borna Sosa.
This was the Eagles’ first game since the sale of their talisman Eberechi Eze to Arsenal.
Nuno Espírito Santo named an unchanged side that coasted to victory over Brentford on the **Premier League**’s opening weekend. Although there were four new faces on the bench, the Tricky Trees had a particularly busy week in terms of incomings.
The Nottingham Forest head coach was set for talks with the outspoken owner, Evangelos Marinakis, following the game at Selhurst Park, after their relationship has seemingly taken a turn for the worse, with the Portuguese coach saying, "No, it is not good (Nuno’s relationship with Marinakis). I think everybody at the club should be together, but this is not the reality."
There was an early chance for each of the two sides, as Justin Devenny saw his goalward-bound effort blocked on the line, and the ever-prolific Chris Wood snatched at a chance, sending it the wrong side of the post.
The opening exchanges revealed that both sides had approached the game with similar mindsets. Neither of them pressed the other side too high up the pitch, but battled like men possessed when the ball was in the middle of the park, with **Elliot Anderson**’s tenacity standing out.
Fellow Englishman Adam Wharton was also having a positive first half. Wharton and Anderson are two midfielders who will be doing battle for a place in the upcoming **England**squad, and they were under the watchful eye of the Three Lions’ manager, Thomas Tuchel, who was in attendance.
Palace began to grab control of the game, testing Forest keeper Matz Sels with a thumping effort from distance via Jean-Philippe Mateta and a close-range header from Maxence Lacroix, but the Belgian shot stopper was equal to them both.
But he was not equal to **Ismaïla Sarr**’s lovely cushioned shot 10 yards from goal as the **Senegal**international put his side ahead. Sarr was unmarked and was all too happy to meet a Daniel Muñoz cross.
The South London side were showing no signs of letting up, as Will Hughes caught the ball sweetly on the half volley, but his shot did not curl enough, and captain Marc Guéhi went close, with the last action of the half, as he met Wharton’s free kick with a header, hitting the post.
Second Half
There were a couple of curious decisions from referee Anthony Taylor to start the second half, as he booked Forest keeper Sels for time wasting. Then, less than a minute later, he showed a yellow card to Palace full-back Mitchell, also for time wasting.
However, even more curious was the ease with which Forest carved Palace open to equalise on the hour mark. **Dan Ndoye**played a ball that looked to be a basic one into the channel. Palace failed to deal with it, and Callum Hudson-Odoi latched onto it, carried it forward, and finished with ease.
As the second half progressed, it became increasingly stodgy. With players frequently going down with injuries, and forward players looking low on energy.
With 20 minutes left, Nuno opted to delve into his box of new toys, bringing on Arnaud Kalimuendo and James McAtee in place of the two players who had combined for the goal, Hudson-Odoi and Ndoye.
Omari Hutchinson soon followed for his debut, as he came on for Morgan Gibbs-White.
There was a moment that got the Selhurst faithful out of their seats, as Romain Esse, the man many hope will be the one to take over from the recently departed Eze, showed some fancy footwork reminiscent of the former Palace man, beating multiple Forest players in one foul swoop—certainly an encouraging sign.
Igor Jesus came incredibly close to stealing it in stoppage time, as his effort struck the outside of the post.
Ultimately, despite all the talent on the pitch, the sides had to settle for a draw, which was the right result in a game that could not quite live up to the action inside the courtrooms.
Player of the match - Daniel Muñoz
This was not a game chock-full of sparkling individual performances, but it would be fair to say that Daniel Muñoz stood out more than anyone else.
The Colombian set up Palace’s goal, using his expert vision to spot Sarr alone in the box.
His defensive work was impressive throughout, and his energy never wavered, as he continued to get up and down the flank right until the bitter end.