NunoEspirito Santo**** saw a second 1-1 draw in the last four months between Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace. The **FA Cup**holders have an extra spring in their step, even without their talismanic ten, and forced Forest to be patient before unleashing the "element of surprise" during the second half.
‘You need character’
Espirito Santo shared thoughts of satisfaction with the performance of the players in the capital city.
“We performed well. I think that we play a good a good game. The boys did well. It is not easy to play here at Selhurst Park especially with these situations going around. But the team showed character.”.
Callum Hudson-Odoi buried the ball into the back of the net to equalise in the second half. For the manager, this strike aligned with the improvement in the display after the restart in South London.
“We were good on the ball, defended well, accepted the situation of the goal that I think goes against what was happening in the in the game because just minutes before we had a good combination that could work out. We reacted well to the goal. The boys came in and they just better create an element of surprise there to Palace and we could have got it in the in the end, but Palace also had chances.”
Palace are a tough opponent for teams to battle. The Eagles earned a shot at European football for the first time in their history with a win in the **FA Cup**final against **Man City**in May, having defeated Aston Villa 3-0 three weeks before. A third trip of the year to **Wembley Stadium**saw a 3-2 victory in a penalty shootout against Liverpool, and Marc Guehi got his hands on the Community Shield.
*“At Selhurst Park, it is very difficult to play, the quality they have at the front a lot of good players you have to control at the same time trying to bounce back from a from a result you need character.”*
‘You have to keep the balance’
Espirito Santo spoke highly of the units in their team. Guehi has worn the armband as the official club captain for the last year, while Tyrick Mitchell is one of the best lockdown left backs across England.
Adam Wharton has an excellent eye for splitting defences with forward thinking passes through the middle of the field. Eberechi Eze, their talismanic ten, has now joined his boyhood club, Arsenal, for a fee of £68 million, but Jean-Philippe Mateta and the speedy Ismaila Sarr remain in their ranks.
“Palace is a very good team with Oliver Glasner where in terms of organization spot on it's really difficult to find the gaps against Palace because they are aggressive they squeeze and they have the centre halves and the fullbacks so it's not easy but at the same time when you want to go for the game you have to keep the balance because the counterattack of Palace is a deadly weapon they have.”
Pragmatism, power, and tactical detail have turned them into one of the best performing sides in the Premier League. It was by no means easy to earn a draw, and the boss hammered home that point.
“We didn't allow too many chances in the second half. I think it was not quiet but was controlled and we created moving forward moving forward and we end up the match with clear situations to do it better. But with new players coming in that's we are trying to see if things start to tick and flow.”