‘El Clasico’ seethes, woodwork rattles, and honours even at Selhurst Park
Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest shared a fiery 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park, a contest framed by the off-field dispute that had seen Palace demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League. Ismaila Sarr broke the deadlock eight minutes before half-time, steering Daniel Muñoz’s cross past Matz Sels with a crisp first-time finish after the hosts had grown into the game.
Palace came within millimetres of a second when captain Marc Guéhi headed against the near post just before the interval, but Forest responded after the restart. A 57th-minute switch paid off as Dan Ndoye's cross-field pass released Callum Hudson-Odoi to surge inside and beat Dean Henderson at his near post — the visitors' only shot on target — setting up a breathless finale in which Igor Jesus hit the upright, Omari Hutchinson lifted over the bar, and a late VAR check on Murillo's contact with Sarr yielded no penalty.
A Cauldron Called 'El Clásico'