Wood strikes again to give Nottingham Forest 1-0 win over Crystal Palace

NOTTINGHAM, England (AP) — Chris Wood scored his fifth goal of the season as Nottingham Forest overcame Crystal Palace 1-0 to move into the top half of the English Premier League on Monday.

The New Zealander was always dangerous and came close before he bagged the only goal 19 minutes into the second period.

His right-foot strike from outside the box sneaked inside the post and goalkeeper Dean Henderson will be angry at not getting a firmer hand to turn it around for a corner.

The goal capped a busy performance by Wood but Forest also owed a debt to keeper Matz Sels who made two excellent saves, first from a Eberechi Eze free kick after an hour and then from Jeffrey Schlupp with nine minutes remaining.

“We needed a home win and thankfully we got it,” Wood said. “We did the consistent things that we have always been doing. We showed tonight that we have a full squad that we can compete with. It’s vitally important but we’ve got to keep going.”

The result ended Forest’s run of seven games without a win at the City Ground.

Palace remained third from bottom with no wins from eight matches.