Nottingham Forest 1 Ipswich 0: Chris Wood penalty the difference as Tricky Trees continue push for European places
CHRIS WOOD smashed home a second-half penalty to carve out his place in Forest folklore.
The Kiwi striker’s old-fashioned thunderbolt from the spot left Arijanet Muric helpless as the striker drew level with Bryan Roy as Forest‘s top Premier League scorer on 24 goals.
That is a fabulous return for the much-travelled 32-year-old, who was seen by many as an uninspiring signing when he arrived from Newcastle for a bargain £15million.
However, the veteran hitman has now scored 15 goals in 18 appearances for club and country this season.
That is an astonishing return and there was never a hint of doubt in Forest fans’ minds that he would score when he was put on the spot.
Ipswich matched Forest for the first 45 minutes but they faded badly as the game became bogged down after Wood’s winner.
Yet it all started so promisingly.
Morgan Gibbs-White flashed a header into the side-netting as he reacted first to get on the end of Elliot Anderson’s near-post corner.
Forest continued to press when Callum Hudson-Odoi‘s shot was blocked by Muric and Ryan Yates powered in a shot which Sammy Szmodics cleared for a corner.
Yates’ effort looked to be hurtling wide but Szmodics wasn’t to know that and was right not to take any unnecessary risks.
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But Ipswich grew into the game and came closest to breaking the deadlock midway through a fiercely-contested first half.
Leif Davis whipped in a corner and Cameron Burgess powered in a header which beat Matz Sels but Ola Aina was perfectly positioned to hack the ball off the line.
Forest responded and Jota Silva glanced a header wide before Gibbs-White failed to generate enough power, allowing Muric to safely smother his low shot.
Ipswich were living up to their Tractor Boys image with a couple of agricultural challenges and Axel Tuanzebe collected an early booking for scything down Silva.
And Dara O’Shead joined him for dissent before Gibbs-White became Forest’s first sinner when he was booked for fouling Sam Morsy.
The game was being bogged down by far too many niggly fouls and both sides lacked a cutting edge.
Ipswich proved the point when they passed up a golden chance to take the lead after 33 minutes.
Nikola Milenkovic’s sloppy header landed at Liam Delap who set up Omari Hutchinson wide on the right.
Fiery second half
His low shot was beaten out by Sels but Delap’s untimely touch took the ball away from Conor Chaplin just as he seemed certain to score.
But whatever Nuno Espirito Santo said at half-time clearly worked because Forest returned with a fire in their belly that Ipswich never matched.
Within three minutes of the restart they won a penalty – even if it was on the soft side.
Silva jinked his way into the box, Szmodics stuck out a lazy leg – as forwards often do – and the Forest ace took a tumble.
Referee Tony Harrington gave himself time to ponder it, then pointed to the spot.
VAR Matthew Donohue agreed with his call as Ipswich groaned at the way they had been sucker-punched by the little Portuguese star.
Wood makes history
Wood stepped up knowing history was in the making.
And he didn’t disappoint with an old-fashioned rocket shot which threatened to rip the net as it exploded behind poor Muric.
The Ipswich keeper then did brilliantly to keep his side in the game as Forest continued to fly forward.
He somehow twisted his body in mid-air to claw Murillo’s header onto his crossbar.
Wood charged in for the rebound and went down following a clash with O’Shea.
But this time Harrington decided in Ipswich’s favour and VAR confirmed he was right as Wood had made first contact with O’Shea’s boot.
Ipswich couldn’t respond
Yates then had a header brilliantly cleared off the line by Burgess as Town held on grimly.
Wood then toppled in the box again but again Harrington decided he had initiated the contact with Jens Cajuste, who clearly nicked the ball.
Ipswich had fallen completely out of the game and had managed only two touches in Forest’s box and no shots at goal.
Sub Jack Clarke put that right with 20 minutes remaining but, like his team, his shot lacked a killer punch and Sels dealt with it with ease.
As the clock ticked down both managers made a flurry of substitutes to kill any momentum stone dead.
And despite having seven minutes of stoppage time the Tractor Boys couldn’t get out of third gear!