Nottingham Forest 0 Wolves 0
Wolves somehow came away from Nottingham Forest with a point on Wednesday evening after the hosts failed to find the net despite hitting 35 shots at Jose Sa’s goal.
Although Forest were well on top throughout the 90 minutes, and spurned chance after chance, Rob Edwards’ side almost grabbed all three points when Mateus Mane raced in on goal in added time but could only fire at Stefan Ortega.
Wolves rode their luck during the contest, but the point brings the Old Gold’s three-game losing Premier League run to an end ahead of attention turning to the FA Cup this weekend.
Forest began the game on top at the City Ground, with their high press causing problems for Wolves who were giving possession away too easily for the visiting supporters’ liking.
That lead to several chances for the hosts, which – fortunately for Wolves – Forest were unable to turn into goals.
The first 45 minutes saw 16 shots sent towards Sa’s goal, with almost a dozen blasted high and wide by the players in red, but Neco Williams, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Elliot Anderson and Lorenzo Lucca all tested the Portuguese stopper.
It was Wolves Academy graduate Gibbs-White who came closest to opening the scoring when he latched onto a clever cross by Anderson over the top of the visiting defence but he headed wide of the post from a matter of yards out.
Lucca – who was denied a goal by the offside flag during Forest’s first half onslaught – also put a glaring opportunity for Forest over the crossbar from inside the box when he got on the end of a quick counter-attack which saw six red shirts up against one of Wolves’ blues, and after Hudson-Odoi picked out the Italian, unmarked, in the penalty area, he could only smash over the woodwork.
In between those efforts, Wolves had one of their best two chances of the half, when Hugo Bueno created a chance down the left as his ball into the box found Adam Armstrong who laid a pass to his fellow January signing, but Gomes could only shoot wide of the post.
With half-time approaching, Wolves could have taken an unlikely lead following good work on the right by Gomes’ Joao and Rodrigo to set up Santi Bueno for a cross, and the Uruguayan’s ball met Arokodare’s head, but his effort flew narrowly wide of the post.
Half-time | Forest 0-0 Wolves
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with Forest laying siege to the Old Gold goal. Morato could only head a good Hutchinson cross wide of the post, while a succession of corners were also not taken advantage of by Sean Dyche’s men.
Mane had Wolves’ best opportunities of the second half, with his first effort seeing the academy graduate use his tricky feet to get away from his markers, before firing low on goal, but Ortega got down well to push his effort behind.
Wolves were having to put their bodies on the line to stop the Forest onslaught, with Angel Gomes doing well to deny Williams from distance, with the England midfielder also having a chance to find the net moments later but hit his shot straight at Ortega.
Although Sa was not greatly tested with the shots he faced, the Portuguese made a stunning stop with 15 minutes remaining. Williams’ cross found Morato two yards out and his shot on target was somehow kept out by Sa’s strong hand as he produced an incredible reaction save.
As the game progressed towards full-time, Forest remained the dominant force, but the Wolves defence stood strong and the visitors almost snatched the win right at the death as the Old Gold broke with pace and after being played into space by Arokodare, Mane could only fire his shot at the keeper.
Full-time | Forest 0-0 Wolves
Forest | Ortega, Aina, Milenkovic, Morato, Williams, Sangare, Anderson, Hudson-Odoi (Ndoye 65), Gibbs-White, Huchinson, Lucca (Jesus 71).
Unused subs | Gunn, Awoniyi, Dominguez, Yates, Cunha, McAtee, Netz.
Wolves | Sa, R Gomes (Tchatchoua 60), Mosquera, S Bueno, Krejci, H Bueno (Wolfe 60), J Gomes, A Gomes (Bellegarde 78), Mane, Armstrong, Arokodare.
Unused subs | Johnstone, Lima, Doherty, Sutherland, Rawlings, Edozie.
