Nottingham Forest 1 Crystal Palace 0: Morgan Gibbs-White nets dramatic winner after Wilfried Zaha misses penalty
MORGAN Gibbs-White made sure Nottingham Forest climbed off the bottom of the table – but only after Wilfried Zaha’s FOURTH penalty miss of 2022.
Gibbs-White converted the winner from close range in the 54th minute to complete a memorable week for Steve Cooper’s side.
But the manner of the goal will have had the Forest praising VAR – in stark contrast to last week’s draw with Brentford.
Then, Gibbs-White was so angry with being on the wrong side of the video technology – and the refereeing – that he said Forest were “cheated”.
But this time, it was VAR which overturned an assistant’s flag as he poked the ball home.
It appeared to be offside at first glance, but the goal was given and it proved enough to give Forest the win they needed to come off the bottom ahead of the World Cup break.
Read More In Football
The win was only Forest’s third of the season – but psychologically, it could mean so much.
But the result was pure misery for Zaha.
After he was pulled down by Forest defender Joe Worrall in the first half, the Palace forward stepped up to take the penalty.
But despite sending keeper Dean Henderson the wrong way, Zaha dragged his effort wide and shaved the post.
Most read in Football
JOIN SUN VEGAS: GET A FREE £10 BONUS WITH 100s OF GAMES TO PLAY AND NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED (Ts&Cs apply)
It means he has missed four out of his last seven penalties.
He had already failed to score from three this year.
In February, he was ridiculed for his awful penalty kick against Norwich – and he missed again against Leicester in April.
This season, he missed against Aston Villa in August – but scored from the rebound.
But this one cost Palace the game.
Forest boss Cooper had gone into the game in confident mood after Wednesday’s Carabao Cup win over Tottenham.
And he called on his players to end the week in style before the Qatar break.
They did just that with a strong display which sealed a deserved win.
But it also gives Forest hope that they can survive this season now that their new signings are beginning to gel.
Zaha was a threat from the start and had a chance to score after only two minutes – but he failed to convert from close range.
The game was peppered with niggly exchanges between the players.
Tyrick Mitchell escaped a yellow card for appearing to kick out at Forest midfielder Ryan Yates who went down as a result.
Forest came agonisingly close to taking the lead after 15 minutes when Brennan Johnson delivered a ball to the far post.
Jesse Lingard slid forwards in a desperate attempt to add the finishing touch – but he missed the ball by inches and ended up in the back of the net himself.
And it was Lingard who was involved again on the half hour as he raced clear of Mitchell who pushed him over just outside the area.
Mitchell – who might have been booked earlier – was only shown a yellow card as Joachim Anderson was the covering defender for Palace.
After extensive treatment for Mitchell, who fell awkwardly in the incident, Renan Lodi finally took the free-kick but he lifted it over the bar.
But Zaha’s penalty miss lifted Forest and their fans.
Palace seemed deflated as a result and from then on, the game seemed out of their reach.
Read More on The Sun
Gibbs-White’s goal – coming as it did after a lengthy VAR check – cranked up the atmosphere even more.
Forest did not look back after that and Lingard had a chance to make it two with 15 minutes left but he slotted his shot wide.