May 28, (THEWILL) – Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest concluded their respective seasons with a 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, as both teams aimed to end on a positive note.
The impressive Taiwo Awoniyi continued his scintillating form for the visitors, scoring his sixth goal in four games, only to have his efforts cancelled out by a strike from Will Hughes after the break.
The match started with Palace on the front foot, as Michael Olise came close to breaking the deadlock with a powerful solo run in the fourth minute, forcing a decent save from the Forest keeper. Eberechi Eze, fresh off his England call-up, nearly made his mark in the 17th minute but narrowly missed the target after receiving a squared Olise free-kick.
Despite dominating possession, Palace struggled to create clear-cut chances. However, Forest stunned the home side with a quickfire double blow in the 60th minute when Awoniyi found the bottom corner with a strong finish, putting the visitors in the lead. In their pursuit of an equaliser, Palace made attacking substitutions and increased their pressure. Cheick Doucoure saw his effort sail over the crossbar in the 52nd minute, followed by Eze’s free-kick from the edge of the box being sent too high three minutes later.
Their continuous dominance aside, Palace struggled to find a breakthrough. Fortune finally smiled on them in the 65th minute when a cross by Olise deflected off Willy Boly and evaded Wayne Hennessey, resulting in an own goal and levelling the score. With the game finely balanced in the closing minutes, both teams showed determination, but neither could find a winner.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
