Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest: Taiwo Awoniyi missing as Forest held the Eagles to a draw at Selhurst Park
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Nottingham Forest settles for a draw at Selhurst Park Stadium || Credit: Imago

Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest: Taiwo Awoniyi missing as Forest held the Eagles to a draw at Selhurst Park

Stephen Oladehinde 19:39 - 07.10.2023

Nottingham Forest were without their star forward Taiwo Awoniyi as they played a goalless draw away from home to Crystal Palace.

The Nigerian superstar has been one of Forest's best players since the start of the new campaign scoring three goals for his team.

He was left off of the squad and did not make the bench to face Roy Hogson’s men as they played out a 0-0 scoreline.

Both teams struggled to get the game going and were unable to break each other's defence setup for 90 minutes.

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As it happened 

Roy Hodgson made three changes to the Crystal Palace side that won 1-0 at Manchester United last weekend with Eberechi Eze ruled out with a hamstring injury, while Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure both dropped out of the starting lineup.

Odsonne Edouard returned from a hamstring injury to play upfront, while Nathaniel Clyne and Jairo Riedewald also came in.

Steve Cooper also made three changes for Nottingham Forest after their 1-1 draw with Brentford last Sunday with Moussa Niakhate missing out through suspension. 

Taiwo Awoniyi dropped out of the starting lineup, while Anthony Elanga dropped to the bench. Morgan Gibbs-White returned while Chris Wood made his first Premier League start.

Taiwo Awoniyi left out of the match day squad || Credit: Imago
Taiwo Awoniyi left out of the match day squad || Credit: Imago

The game started with Nottingham Forest dominating the possession and causing problems for Crystal Palace's defenders.

The away side almost opened the scoring during their spell of possession when a long ball from Forest half was played to the path of Gibbs-White who looped the goalkeeper but was unfortunate to see his effort hit the crossbar.

Despite the away side's dominance, they were unable to get past the goalkeeper with the referee blowing the whistle to end the first half.

Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest Premier League fixture || Credit: Imago
Crystal Palace vs Nottingham Forest Premier League fixture || Credit: Imago

The second half started and both teams continued from where they left off. Crystal Palace tried pushing to get the first goal but could not create any opening.

Both teams could not break the deadlock despite all their effort as the referee blew the whistle for full-time.