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The former Claret netted a pair of first-half goals in Nottingham Forest’s marginal victory over the outgoing top-flight club.
Chris Wood scored a brace on his Burnley return as Nottingham Forest beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor as Vincent Kompany’s men exited the Premier League with a whimper.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men faced the already-relegated side needing a catastrophe to ensue to lose their top division status.
However, they notched two goals through their New Zealand forward, who ended the 2023-24 campaign with 14 goals.
As it happened
No sooner had Sunday’s game at Turf Moor started than Wood opened the scoring, latching on to Anthony Elanga’s cross at the far post after the Forest wide attacker beat Burnley left-back Charlie Taylor.
Wood, Burnley’s record scorer in the Premier League, was still celebrating his 13th of the campaign when he netted his 14th 12 minutes after his second-minute goal to double Forest’s advantage.
While his first goal was well-worked, the New Zealand striker’s second was slightly fortuitous, as he diverted Ryan Yates’ shot past Burnley goalkeeper Arijanet Muric.
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Kompany’s men hoarded possession throughout the opening half but the away side defended resolutely and had the game’s better chances before the interlude.
The Tricky Trees did better with possession at the start of the second half, having more attempts than the Clarets in half’s first 10 minutes.
They nearly went 3-0 up through Morgan Gibbs-White, whose 25-yard strike seemed to be finding the top corner only for Muric to deny the Englishman.
Forest’s improved control was ephemeral, as Burnley subsequently regained the upper hand.
They got one back in the 72nd minute through Josh Cullen, with the strike from 30 yards going in off a Murillo deflection, leaving Kompany’s men with less than 20 minutes remaining to find a late leveller.
However, the rest of the game was stop-start as the late substitutions prevented Kompany’s men from mounting sustained attacks in the closing minutes, and it stayed that way in Lancashire.
Even if it was a formality as gameweek 38 began with Forest mathematically not out of the woods, Luton Town’s chase for a significant goal-swing did not materialise against Fulham in a 4-2 loss to the West London club.
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