Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood brings down Crystal Palace after Henderson error | first division

Oliver Glasner has cleared Dean Henderson of blame after the Crystal Palace goalkeeper's mistake in the second half. Nottingham Forest a very close victory. Henderson allowed Chris Wood's first goal to slip away from his desperate dive to extend Palace's miserable start to the season.

The game was on the line when Wood tried his luck from 20 meters after a weak headed clearance by Trevoh Chalobah following a hopeful ball from Àlex Moreno. But Henderson was slow to duck and then allowed Wood's shot to twist under his right arm, just six days after returning to England's starting lineup for their Nations League victory in Finland.

“He tried to apologize but I didn't let him,” she said. Crystal Palace the manager said. “It's no one's fault. He made a lot of big stops for us this season and last. It happens. They are sports and we are all human.

“You don't need to apologize for the mistake. It's about how we approach error. “I don't expect an easy game against Tottenham (on Sunday), they are very offensive, we know the challenges we have, so we will need Dean and he will help us for sure.”

Wood is keeping good company these days. His fifth goal of the season means only Erling Haaland and Cole Palmer have scored more than 16 first division goals he has plundered since Nuno Espírito Santo took charge of the City Ground shortly before last Christmas.

The New Zealand striker will be 33 when Nuno, absent from the touchline here as he began a three-game suspension, celebrates his birthday, but they will surely celebrate. Thanks in large part to Wood's goals, Forest are happily in eighth place in the table.

In stark contrast, Palace remain entrenched in the relegation zone after their worst start to a Premier League season.

Wood had already seen three cast-iron chances disappear in the first half before hitting the shot that won this game. The strike means he joins Bryan Roy and Stan Collymore as the only players to reach the 20-goal mark in the Premier League for Forest. His celebrations did not end there as he revealed that he hopes to be a father again with the footballer's usual thumb-in-mouth and ball-in-the-shirt routine.

“Unbelievable,” Nuno said. “We are delighted with him, and not only because of his goals. (It's) all his actions in the game, how he leads the team and the impact he has in the locker room. He is a player with a lot of experience for young people to learn from.”

With Nuno sitting in a stand that also housed captain Morgan Gibbs-White and James Ward-Prowse, both suspended, while owner Evangelos Marinakis serves a five-match stadium ban, there was a sense of injustice among Forest fans who fueled his team's energetic start. .

However, there was a hole in front of Forest's defense which Palace dug into and almost took advantage of in the early stages. Eberichi Eze, playing in a free role just next to, or even ahead of, Eddie Nketiah, entered this space and fired a 20-yard shot just wide.

Forest had the better possession, but Nketiah almost scored when he entered the same empty area, where neither Ryan Yates nor Nicolas Dominguez were marking their defensive presence, and the £25m signing from Arsenal deflected his shot wide of the goal. a pole

Yates also hit the woodwork at the other end with a header and just after the break Eze forced Matz Sels into a magnificent fingertip save, the ball crashing over the top of the bar.

Moreno then came to Forest's rescue when he threw his body into the path of Will Hughes' shot after Nketiah had brilliantly done it down the left flank and pulled the ball back.

Then came Wood's big moment at Henderson's expense. God knows he'd been knocking on the door enough already. Another win at Leicester on Friday and Forest would be fifth. Exciting times indeed.