Dean Henderson’s error against his former club cost Crystal Palace as Chris Wood’s second-half strike moved Nottingham Forest up to eighth in the Premier League with a 1-0 win on Monday.
The England goalkeeper allowed Wood’s low shot from outside the box to slip through his grasp to leave the Eagles still in the bottom three and without a league win this season.
Eddie Nketiah and Eberechi Eze hit the woodwork for Palace, but they remain the lowest scorers in the division with just five goals from their opening eight games.
Forest, by contrast, are enjoying a stunning start to the campaign and move above Manchester United and Newcastle into the top half.
Nuno Espirito Santo had to watch his side’s first home win since April from the stands as he began a three-match touchline ban, while Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis started a five-game stadium suspension for his behaviour in a 1-0 defeat to Fulham last month.
Morgan Gibbs-White and James Ward-Prowse were also suspended for the hosts, but they possess what Palace do not in a striker in form.
Only Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer have scored more Premier League goals than Wood since Nuno took charge of Forest in December last year.
Henderson played a major role in keeping Forest up during his spell on loan at the City Ground in the 2022/23 season but had a moment to forget as he got a hand to Wood’s effort but could not keep it out 25 minutes from time.
“I’ve not scored many from outside the box. I try to keep them inside the box because it’s a lot easier,” said Wood.
“You just try to get it on target and then anything can happen. It just trickled under Dean’s hand. But it is one of those you have to take the shot and thankfully it went in.”
It was a tale of contrasting fortunes for the two goalkeepers.
Matz Sels produced an outstanding stop to turn Eze’s piledriver onto the bar seconds before the goal and then tipped over Jeffrey Schlupp’s rising drive.
Nketiah struck the outside of the post from long range in the first half as his wait for a Premier League goal since a £30 million ($39 million) move from Arsenal goes on.
Despite taking just three points from their opening eight games, Palace are just one point adrift of safety as Ipswich, Southampton and Wolves are also yet to win.
“We’re creating chances but any slight mistake gets punished at the moment,” said Palace captain Marc Guehi.
“When the world’s against you, you have to keep fighting.”
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