August 20, (THEWILL) – Everton and Nottingham Forest battled for a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon, with two goals scored in the final ten minutes to inject excitement to an otherwise dull contest.
The first encounter between these well-known clubs in the twenty-first century did not immediately justify the wait. The first half was clumsy and disjointed due to minor fouls and a card-happy referee. Andre Marriner issued four cautions in the first 35 minutes.
Everton good had a flurry of early efforts as the hosts got out to a quicker start, capitalising on the Goodison Park crowd’s noise that was being amplified by a gusty Merseyside wind. Forest stayed in the match due to the reflexes of Henderson. But Pickford was at fault at the other end when he deflected Ryan Yates’ 25-yard shot to Johnson, who joyfully snatched the opening goal in the 81st minute.
Forest was able to survive a tussle in the penalty area that was started by an uncharacteristic poor handling by Henderson as Everton put bodies forward in pursuit of their first points of the season.
But after standing their ground for so long, Forest were defeated by their opponents’ brutally easy play. Pickford sent the ball flying forward, spotting Gray’s timing-perfect run. Gray maintained his composure against an onrushing Henderson, to score an equaliser in the 88th minute.
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.
