Daniel Podence scored a late equalizer to help Wolves produce one of the close football scores of the weekend in the Premier League. Wolves opened the game brightly, with Adama Traore cutting in from the right channel, but Forest gradually seized control and took the lead thanks to a well-worked goal from Brennan Johnson. The hosts upped the ante in the second half and squandered several great chances to double their lead, with their front three of Johnson, Emmanuel Dennis, and Morgan Gibbs-White wreaking havoc with breakaway assaults.
With Julen Lopetegui’s side panting and puffing and unable to create chances, the Spanish introduced top scorer Podence at halftime and was rewarded with seven minutes of normal time remaining when the Portugal international sold Neco Williams with a feint and hammered past Keilor Navas. There were hotspots. After clutching each other during a boisterous phase of the game – after Wolves claimed a penalty when Felipe yanked on Traore’s shoulder – Forest coach Alan Tate and Wolves assistant Pablo Sanz were both sent off.
Wolves captain Ruben Neves was also shown his 10th yellow card of the season and will now serve a two-match suspension, while Podence avoided being sent off after seeming to spit at Johnson in the last minutes of the game. The FA has acknowledged that they are investigating Johnson’s claim that Podence spits at him. The result means that only one point separates the teams in the Premier League table, with Wolves in 13th with 28 points, one point ahead of Forest in 14th, who have a game in hand.
The City Ground was shaking before kick-off, and the game swiftly followed suit, with both sides enjoying sustained waves of pressure early in the first half. Johnson, who had been passed fit to play after missing international duty with a groin injury, forced Jose Sa into an early save with a left-footed, curling effort before Emmanuel Dennis bamboozled Nelson Semedo in the box and hit a pass directly against the defender’s hand – amid penalty appeals that were waved away by referee Chris Kavanagh.
Wolves almost equalized when striker Matheus Cunha, who started in place of Raul Jimenez, mustered a looping header from a Matheus Nunes cross that cannoned back into play off the crossbar. Minutes later, Nunes almost bundled in an opportunity, but Williams snuffed it out with his body and a lurching header. With 10 minutes left in the first half, the hosts took full control, with their dynamic attacking combination of Johnson, Dennis, and Gibbs-White finding swaths of space to run into from the middle of the park.
Gibbs-White shined the brightest, with Forest earning first contact on each of his set-piece deliveries, while his wide midfield movement and precision passing wore Wolves down all day and played a key role in the opener. The former Wolves player linked superbly with Danilo, who supplied a Cruyff-flick one-two before being reciprocated. Danilo then lofted an overcooked pass for Johnson to sprint onto, but the Welshman found an odd angle through Sa’s legs to put his team ahead.
Lopetegui made two substitutions at halftime, inserting Podence and Pablo Sarabia in place of Joao Moutinho and Mario Lemina, but the departing midfield mettle only seemed to fuel Forest’s breakaway attempt. Time after time, Gibbs-White surged through the Wolves middle and created possibilities for teammates, but Dennis failed to convert two chances, while Johnson also blasted wide from a loose ball, to mention a few golden opportunities.
Forest concluded the game with 17 shots on goal, seven of which were on target, and an expected goal total of 1.26. Wolves, on the other hand, only had one shot on goal in the entire game, and that was Podence’s 83rd-minute equalizer. Cooper’s team will take a lot of positives from this game, but failing to win during sustained periods of significant domination against a relegation opponent could be crucial come May.
“There have been some disciplinary incidents on the sidelines since the change of manager [at Wolves], and we understood we had to stand up for ourselves,” Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper said. “We will not allow someone to come here and try to dominate the officials. So we realized that was a strategy of theirs. We don’t want to burst, because it’s not a nice look. But, you must sometimes adapt to what is going on. I haven’t had one complaint about my staff, that’s for sure.”
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