Murillo’s lucky strike secures Forest another point towards European push | OneFootball

Nottingham Forest grabbed another point towards their European push as Murillo’s lucky strike secured a 1-1 Premier League draw at Crystal Palace.

Murillo might not have known much about his goal as he diverted a Neco Williams shot into the net, but it could prove vital during the run-in.

Forest’s top-five bid may no longer be in their hands, but with distinctly-winnable games against Leicester and West Ham to come, all eyes could yet be on a final-day shootout with Chelsea for a Champions League spot.

Palace, playing their first match since beating Aston Villa to reach the FA Cup final, had taken the lead through Eberechi Eze’s penalty.

Forest, who suffered Wembley heartbreak 24 hours later against Manchester City, were without the injured Callum Hudson-Odoi – who instead joined the away fans in the stand.

The Eagles dominated the early stages, with some eye-catching interplay between Eze and Adam Wharton in front of England manager Thomas Tuchel.

Their first chance arrived when Tyrick Mitchell whipped in a cross which fellow full-back Daniel Munoz met on the volley, forcing a save from Matz Sels.

But Forest grew into the game and Elliot Anderson hit the side netting from a deep Nicolas Dominguez cross, with Chris Wood unsuccessfully claiming he was shoved to the ground as he went for the ball.

They almost made the breakthrough two minutes before half-time with a trademark counter-attack as Dominguez and Wood combined to tee up Anthony Elanga, but his finish was too close to Henderson.

A frantic start to the second half saw Ismaila Sarr head Munoz’s cross wide at the near post, before Henderson came out smartly to block another effort from Sarr.

Forest immediately countered again and Wood was only denied the opening goal by the inner thigh of Maxence Lacroix as his shot rolled narrowly wide.

But it was Palace who went ahead on the hour after Mitchell was felled by a combination of Dominguez and Sels in the area.

Referee Andy Madley did not initially give the penalty but changed his mind after a look at the replay, booking Sels for his troubles, with Eze tucking away the spot-kick.

The influential Wharton had taken a knock to his ankle knock and went off, with Oliver Glasner taking no chances with him 12 days before the Wembley date with City, before Henderson made a stunning save to keep out an Elanga free-kick.

But Forest levelled in the 64th minute when Murillo, up for a corner, stuck out a leg to flick Williams’ shot past the wrong-footed Henderson.

Forest rode their luck late on as Eze agonisingly clipped the crossbar with a 20-yard curler before substitute Eddie Nketiah had the ball in the net only to be flagged offside.