Ed Aarons was at Selhurst Park. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Oliver Glasner talks to Sky. “A deserved draw … we lost possession too easily … we were lucky when their striker hit the post … we need to be more efficient … it was our fourth game now and many players have played every single minute … we’ve got eight, nine, ten days’ time to strengthen the squad … we can’t afford to lose starters … we need players to make us better … I’m pretty sure we’ll get the right ones in.”
Nuno: 'Hopefully we can move forward'
Nuno Espírito Santo speaks to Sky. “It is very tough to play here … even when Palace scored we were in control of the game … possession … finding the gaps … the reaction came in the second half … we spoke with the players … the desire they put in … we just changed the wingers … create an element of surprise … the change worked out … we are pleased … we still need some more options, especially in the full-backs … a goalkeeper … I hope this week we can complete the squad … to be safe … three bodies … we are going to play in Europe and cups … we need players … the bond created with the team and fans is there to stay … it is unbreakable … a beautiful journey that will stick in our memories for ever … no matter what happens, we always have this respect and mutual love … I believe the only way to operate a football club is everybody on the same page … the same direction … hopefully we can do it this week and move forward … take the nonsense questions and narrative that is going around away.”
Nuno Espírito Santo goes over to the away end. He claps the Forest fans, and they reciprocate by chanting their manager’s name. Is this the end? Big talks with Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, and head of football Edu coming up during the week, it would seem.
… although Forest had chances to win it at the end. Igor Jesus hit the post, then Omari Hutchinson cleared the bar twice in as many minutes. Forest are now on a 52-game run of failing to win a Premier League match in which they’ve been behind at half-time. The last time they did it was against Spurs in January 1997, thanks to two goals from Bryan Roy.
FULL TIME: Crystal Palace 1-1 Nottingham Forest
The whistle goes and the two managers share a hug. The result is about right.
90 min +5: Williams curls in from the left. The ball breaks to Hutchinson, down the inside-left channel. He lobs over Henderson but over the bar as well.
90 min +4: Sarr bustles into the Forest box from the right flank. He’s grabbed from behind by Murillo. Penalty? Nope. There was contact, but Sarr was flagged offside before he was fouled. Just off. But just is enough.
90 min +3: Murillo sends Jesus into acres of space down the inside-left channel. He’s eased away from goal by Guehi, but still manages to pearl a rising drive across Henderson and off the right-hand post! Hutchinson then blazes over. Huge escape for Palace!
90 min +2: Murillo slides in on an in-flight Edouard and earns himself a spot in the referee’s notebook.
90 min: There will be five additional minutes.
89 min: Palace replace Mateta with Edouard.
88 min: Two final Forest swaps. Wood and Sangare are replaced by Yates and Igor Jesus.
87 min: Hughes is booked for a cheeky tug on McAtee’s shirt.
86 min: We’re petering out a bit here. Neither team in gung-ho mode.
84 min: Williams is back up. And Hughes is also fine to continue.
83 min: Williams and Hughes clash heads accidentally on the edge of the Palace box. Williams stays down. Hughes gets up quickly but doesn’t look too steady on his feet. On come the medical folk.
82 min: Palace respond with another change of their own, as Wharton makes way for Lerma.
81 min: Here comes another Forest debutant: Hutchinson for Gibbs-White.
79 min: Hughes slides in to win the ball off McAtee. It’s a fair challenge, but McAtee skips about and convinces the referee he’s been caught. Those who tire easily of confected controversy will be pleased that nothing comes of the resulting free kick.
77 min: Now it’s Palace’s turn to pass and probe. And Forest’s turn to hold their shape. This second half is properly in the balance.
75 min: The resulting free kick is swung into the mixer by Wharton. He hangs it too high, and it’s an easy pluck for Sels.
74 min: Esse sashays down the left and looks to have left Gibbs-White behind with a trick, but is clanked to the floor. Gibbs-White is slightly fortunate not to go into the book.
73 min: Forest pass and probe. Palace hold their shape.
71 min: Forest make a double change: Hudson-Odoi and Ndoye are replaced by debutants McAtee and Kalimuendo.
69 min: Hughes sends Lacroix into the Forest box down the left. Lacroix looks for Sarr in the middle but Milenkovic hooks clear. Both sides are going for the winner.
68 min: Aina becomes the third player to go into the book for undue faffing over the restart.
66 min: … and before it can restart, Palace make the first change of the afternoon, with Esse coming on for Devenny. Williams meanwhile is fine to continue.
65 min: Williams is down after landing awkwardly on his back after a 50-50 with Munoz and requires treatment. The game pauses.
63 min: A Forest free kick out on the left. It’s worked to Hudson-Odoi on the left. He crosses. Richards clears. Williams sends it back in. Henderson plucks from the sky. Forest are firmly on top now.
61 min: Williams wedges a pass down the left. Gibbs-White flicks on for Wood, who shovels a first-time shot towards goal. Henderson parries round the post, then the flag goes up for offside anyway. Forest have their tails up.
59 min: Palace nearly respond immediately, Devenny sending Mitchell into space down the left. Mitchell reaches the byline and chips back for Devenny, who gets a header on target. But there’s little power in it, and it’s easy for Sels.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-1 Nottingham Forest (Hudson-Odoi 57)
… and then, out of nothing, an equaliser! Ndoye switches play from left to right with a fine pass. Hudson-Odoi barges his way in front of Mitchell, striding down the inside-right channel and into the box. He sweeps a shot towards the bottom-right corner. Off Henderson’s outstretched leg, up and in!
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55 min: Hughes blazes a half-chance over from the edge of the box. This match still refuses to take off.
54 min: … and now Mitchell is booked for taking a nanosecond too long over a throw. A faint whiff of levelling things up after a needlessly pernickety decision.
53 min: Murillo holds Mateta under a high ball on the halfway line. He’s not booked, though one more foul might do it. Sels goes into the book, though, for delaying the restart at a goal kick. Slightly strange, seeing he didn’t get the ball back for a while, and his team are losing.
52 min: Ndoye has been sparky since the break. He advances down the left again, and loops a long diagonal towards Wood, who sticks out a leg but can only poke wide right from six yards.
50 min: Ndoye wins another corner down the left. Once again it’s wasted, Anderson hitting it long with everyone at the near post. Goal kick.
48 min: … but otherwise, it’s been a quiet start to the second half. Selhurst, usually so noisy, is strangely subdued at the moment.
46 min: Forest are immediately on the attack, and Ndoye wins a corner down the left. The set piece is a non-event.
Forest get the second half underway. No changes.
Half-time entertainment. Jonathan Wilson on today’s late kick-off.
HALF TIME: Crystal Palace 1-0 Nottingham Forest
El Casico hasn’t been a classico, but Palace will be happy enough. They’ve been the better side and have their reward.
45 min +2: Wharton curls the free kick towards Guehi, who stoops on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box and pings a header off the base of the right-hand post. So close to 2-0!
45 min +1: Sarr is skittled over by Anderson, just to the left of the Forest D. A free kick in a dangerous position.
45 min: There will be one minute of additional time.
44 min: Sarr and Williams come together. Oliver Glasner thinks it’s a foul, and tells it the way he sees it to the fourth official.
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42 min: Mitchell tees up Hughes for a shot just to the left of the D. Hughes carves a screamer towards the bottom-right corner. Inches wide. Not sure Sels was getting to that.
41 min: … but having said that, replays show Murillo winning the ball, but also catching his man on the top of the foot. The good news is, Mateta is fine.
39 min: Guehi advances down the inside-left channel and slips a pass infield for Mateta, who is unceremoniously stopped in his tracks by Murillo. Palace want a free kick just to the left of the D, but they’re not getting one. Hard but fair.
GOAL! Crystal Palace 1-0 Nottingham Forest (Sarr 37)
Palace suddenly move up a gear. Mitchell crosses from the left. It’s half cleared. Hughes switches play to Munoz on the right. Munoz crosses low. Sarr, eight yards out, sweeps into the bottom-right corner, Sels rooted to the spot. Selhurst erupts!
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35 min: Gibbs-White plays a cute reverse pass down the left for Anderson, who crosses deep. Wood, on the right-hand edge of the six-yard box, hooks back to Gibbs-White, who had kept going, and finds himself in space on the penalty spot. Gibbs-White leans back and hoicks sky-high. A poor end to a fine move. That could have been a great goal.
33 min: The last six matches between these two teams: 1-1, 1-0, 1-1, 0-0, 1-1, 1-0. Forest won both of the 1-0s. So this is kind of going to form at the moment. These lads not given to goalfests.
31 min: Devenny makes off down the left, chasing after a ball missed by Sangare. He wins a corner. Hughes swings it in for Lacroix, who steers a header goalwards, but it’s soft and easy for Sels.
29 min: Mateta has a bash from distance. Sels parries a ball heading towards the bottom left. A save he should make, even though there was power in the shot.
27 min: Hughes finds Mitchell in space on the left. Mitchell crosses low. Milenkovic hooks out for a throw with Mateta lurking. The resulting throw leads to a brief game of head tennis, before the whistle blows for a foul only the referee spots. Pressure off Forest.
26 min: Sarr has the chance to slip Mateta into the Forest box, down the inside-right channel on the underlap. But he overhits the pass. Palace belatedly waking up.
24 min: Munoz strides down the right, reaches the byline, and whips in a cross. Sels slaps it around his near post in a panic. But there’s no corner forthcoming, because the cross had already curled out of play for a goal kick.
22 min: Wharton drops deep to quarterback. From a deep position on the right, he tries to release Devenny into the Forest box down the left. His diagonal ping flies into the stand behind the goal.
21 min: Hudson-Odoi advances at speed down the left, but upon reaching the edge of the Palace box, clanks his shot straight into Richards.
20 min: El Casico is currently no classico.
18 min: Munoz has the opportunity to release Sarr down the right, but his pass is overhit, and Sarr’s first touch is clumsy. Goal kick.
16 min: Forest are slowly getting on top, but it’s a marginal thing, because nothing of any import is going on.
14 min: Gibbs-White knocks the ball down the right flank and prepares to chase after it. Lacroix hangs out a cynical leg to stop a promising attack. Into the book he goes.
12 min: Safeway, for example. Or Fine Fare.
10 min: Lacroix half-clears the corner; Sangare launches a volley from the edge of the box into the J Sainsbury car park behind the stand. Other popular-in-the-1980s supermarket chains are available.
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9 min: Aina spins Mitchell and advances down the right. He crosses, looking for Wood. Lacroix is forced to concede the first corner of the afternoon.
7 min: The Forest fans are certainly in a chatty mood. Now they give Hughes, formerly of Derby County, the what-for.
5 min: Gibbs-White bustles his way past Mitchell down the right and crosses low for Wood, who flips a first-time shot wide right from six yards. Big chance. A brisk, fun start to this game.
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3 min: … and then suddenly the match springs into life. Wood nearly gets the better of Mitchell in the race for a long ball. Not quite. Then Palace counter, and Devenny powers into the box from the left. He’s entitled to shoot, but tries to find Mateta in the middle instead. Murillo blocks and Sels smothers.
2 min: Nothing doing on the pitch yet. In the stands, the Forest fans launch the first aural salvo, informing the home support that Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis “does what he wants”.
Palace get the ball rolling. El Casico is go!
The teams are out. Palace sport their red and blue stripes, while Forest are in white shirts that pay homage to Nottingham’s Lace Market, incorporating [unfolds press release, adjusts monocle and squints] “a pattern that weaves together the club’s iconic crest and the NG postcode”. A fine atmosphere as ever at Selhurst, the home fans unveiling a tifo of Joel Ward lifting the FA Cup. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.
Oliver Glasner’s turn to talk to Sky Sports. “With [Eberechi Eze] we have lost one of our crucial players … one of our top players … but on the other side we could also win games without him … at Villa for example … this is what we have to do … trust this group of players … we have had a great start to the season … we will get the right players I’m pretty sure … we will have a good team as well … we always rely on each other … we want to play our football … that is what made us successful and will keep us successful.”
As for the background noise regarding all matters CAS, Nuno says: “It is always very hard at Selhurst Park … today more, because there’s a lot of things going on … I always insist on the same narrative that it’s not us to blame … but we don’t have any way to avoid it … it is going to be intense and we have to be ready.”
Nuno insists he wants to stay at Forest
Nuno Espírito Santo talks to Sky Sports, and is asked if he’s trying to “engineer a way out of Nottingham Forest”. “That’s nonsense, it doesn’t make any kind of sense … we are focused on the game … making sure the players are ready to play this game … it will be very tough.”
Does he want to continue in his role as Forest boss? “Of course. Of course.”
Is there a need for talks between himself, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis, and head of football Edu? “Yes, that’s what we need to do, and we’re gonna do it … today for sure not, because of the match, but soon, of course … there is no speculation around anything … we have to communicate and approach the final days of the market … prepare our boys.”
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Noises Off dept. Ed Aarons gauges opinions of the events that have led us to El Casico. Unsurprisingly, not too many meet in the middle.
Crystal Palace make two changes to the side that started the Conference League qualifier against Fredrikstad. Tyrick Mitchell and Chris Richards come in for Borna Sosa and Jefferson Lerma.
Nottingham Forest select exactly the same 11 players that started the opening-day 3-1 win over Brentford. They’ve still got the same manager as well. For now.
The teams
Crystal Palace: Henderson, Richards, Lacroix, Guehi, Munoz, Wharton, Hughes, Mitchell, Sarr, Mateta, Devenny.
Subs: Matthews, Benitez, Lerma, Clyne, Esse, Edouard, Sosa, Rodney, Cardines.
Nottingham Forest: Sels, Aina, Milenkovic, Murillo, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Ndoye, Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Subs: Gunn, Morato, Douglas Luiz, Kalimuendo, Igor Jesus, Hutchinson, Yates, McAtee, Boly.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire).
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Preamble
Welcome to our coverage of a grudge match between the team that qualified for the Europa League but has for administrative failings been cashiered into the Conference League, against the team that qualified for the Conference League but has taken the Europa League place of the team that qualified for the Europa League but has for administrative failings been cashiered into the Conference League. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has a lot to answer for, one way or another. The game some have dubbed El Casico† – there’s rarely opportunity to say this these days, but thank you, the internet – kicks off at 2pm UK time. It’s on!
† El Casico, though! That’s right up there with Yesterday and Ulysses for things I wish I’d written.
