Nottingham Forest 1 – 0 Crystal Palace

Nottingham Forest avoided being bottom of the Premier League at Christmas as they beat Crystal Palace in a game heavy on VAR decisions.

Morgan Gibbs-White was initially flagged offside when he prodded home from close range after Palace keeper Vicente Guaita parried from Brennan Johnson.

Replays at first seemed to suggest the decision was correct but, after a lengthy delay, the video assistant referee awarded the goal and it proved to be the winner.

Palace had only themselves to blame for the defeat, however, Wilfried Zaha having earlier dragged a penalty wide after Joe Worrall was adjudged to have brought him down.

The victory lifts Forest off the foot of the table as they climb two places to 18th, while Palace remains 11th after only a second defeat in seven league games.

“We know we’ve got a lot of work to do – whatever happened today the league position wasn’t going to look great,” Forest boss Steve Cooper told BBC Match of the Day.

“But at least we’re making positive steps, at least we’re picking up points.

“It’s been a really, really tough couple of months, we’ve had to do something that no team or manager or coaching staff has had to do before with the number of players that have come in.

“Every time we’ve had a tough moment, we’ve responded with a performance or result so that’s reassuring. Days like today help belief grow and we’ve got to build on that.”

While Gibbs-White’s winner was both the most important and marginal decision, the video assistant was just as busy as on-field referee John Brooks during an eventful afternoon at the City Ground.

Tyrick Mitchell rightly escaped a red card when he brought down Jesse Lingard through on goal just outside the area in the first half, because Joachim Andersen was covering in behind.

But Palace’s penalty was a trickier call – again there was a long stoppage to decide whether Worrall’s arm around Zaha’s midriff was enough to justify Brooks pointing to the spot.

It was debatable but the point was rendered moot when Zaha’s spot-kick clipped the outside of the post on its way wide.

Even after Gibbs-White’s strike was eventually given, there was more for VAR to do as a booking was deemed suitable punishment for Ryan Yates’ studs-up challenge on Jeffrey Schlupp’s ankle.

But that was the end of the drama as Forest comfortably saw out victory, with Palace failing to register a single shot on target all game.

Only three teams, across the Premier League’s 30 seasons, have stayed up after being bottom at Christmas – and Forest is among those to have failed, twice, relegated in such scenarios in 1993 and 1999.

The circumstances are slightly different this year, with far more games to be played than usual in the second half of the season because of the month-long break for the World Cup.

But it is still a boost for Cooper’s newly promoted, new-look side, who have responded to five straight defeats by winning two and drawing three of their seven matches since.

They had to withstand early Palace pressure as Zaha fired a decent opening over but Forest began to offer their own threats with the front three of Johnson, Gibbs-White and the recalled Lingard all lively.

Palace boss Patrick Vieira will think the result might have been different had Zaha scored from the spot but this was a strangely lethargic display from his side, especially their lack of response to going behind.

source – BBC