Nottingham Forest drew 1-1 with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League to maintain an unbeaten start to the season away from home.
Forest have played Southampton, Liverpool, Brighton and now Chelsea away, claiming two wins and two draws from those four fixtures.
Yesterday’s game was all about the goalkeepers. Joe Hart raved about Matz Sels for his heroics, with Robert Sanchez also in fine form throughout.
Chelsea were rattled by Forest at times, with Neco Williams sparking chaos when he stepped onto the pitch as a substitute.
It highlighted the tactical prowess that Nuno Espirito Santo rocked up at Stamford Bridge with and Jamie O’Hara was impressed with the Forest boss.
Ally McCoist says Nottingham Forest star is a ‘nightmare’ for defenders
Once again Forest scored through Chris Wood on Sunday as he prodded home a fourth goal of the season.
He poked home in the 49th minute after Nikola Milenkovic had won a header following a James Ward-Prowse free-kick.
Forest couldn’t hold on to claim three points but after last weekend’s defeat to Fulham, this still proved to be a welcome share of the spoils.
McCoist was a centre-forward himself and he’s claimed that he’s a huge fan of Wood, conceding that he must be extremely difficult to play against.
He told TalkSPORT (07/10; 07:45 am): “There are always goals in the big fella up front, Chris Wood. I love him because he’s kind of a throwback – you know what you’re getting, he’s a nightmare to play against.”
Wood has stepped up after summer striker search
Wood must have been rubbing his hands together when Forest failed in their efforts to sign a striker during the summer.
Santiago Gimenez rejected Forest on a number of occasions and he wasn’t the only one.
Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah looked all set to move to Forest at one point but Oliver Glasner convinced him to sign for Crystal Palace.
On deadline day a third move failed, this time for Omar Marmoush and the Eintracht Frankfurt striker is now outperforming Harry Kane.
Forest do have a secret weapon in Wood though.
He’s not been fazed by the club’s desire to sign another striker and has simply got his head down and picked up where he left off last season.
His 14 goals during 2023/24 kept Forest in the Premier League and he will be targeting a similar tally this season under Espirito Santo.
With Wood out of contract in the summer, Forest will inevitably still be looking at other strikers for future windows.
Right now, however, he’s the immovable focal point in the Forest team and long may his rich vein of goalscoring form continue.
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