Nottingham Forest 2-2 Wolves. Matheus Cunha scored twice – including a magnificent solo strike – as Wolves denied Nottingham Forest a valuable victory in their fight for Premier League survival.
Brazilian forward Cunha, making his first start since suffering a hamstring injury in early February, stunned the home fans at the City Ground with a goal of the highest quality late in the first half.
Carrying the ball from inside his own half to the edge of the Forest penalty area, Cunha skipped between Andrew Omobamidele and Ryan Yates before rifling an unstoppable shot past goalkeeper Matz Sels and into the top corner.
Former Wolves playmaker Morgan Gibbs-White drew Forest level just six minutes later, heading home Giovanni Reyna’s corner in first-half stoppage time before celebrating in front of the travelling fans.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s home side swept ahead in the second half when Danilo powered a low shot beyond Jose Sa from close range, but Cunha bundled home a loose ball from a corner to salvage a point for Gary O’Neil’s men.
Wolves remain just outside the top half of the table, while Forest stay perilously close to the relegation zone.
Forest are still waiting on an appeal date for their four-point profit and sustainability punishment, but Premier League safety remains firmly in their hands despite this failure to protect their second-half advantage at the City Ground.
The hosts were the brighter of the two sides in the early stages and Yates had a shot deflected wide from the edge of the penalty area before Callum Hudson-Odoi curled over the crossbar from a similar position.
United States international Reyna, making his first start since joining on loan from Borussia Dortmund, also dragged a shot narrowly wide after collecting Nelson Semedo’s stray pass near the edge of the box.
Nuno will have been frustrated with his team’s defending in the build-up to Cunha’s opener, with Omobamidele and Yates failing to stop the Brazilian entering the penalty area.
But after deservedly drawing level through Gibbs-White, Danilo drilled Forest in front for the first time after Matt Doherty inadvertently diverted the ball into the midfielder’s path while attempting to dispossess Gibbs-White.
Their lead lasted just five minutes, however, with Cunha converting from point-blank range after Sels parried Toti Gomes’ goal-bound header into the forward’s path.
Forest have now dropped 50 Premier League points from winning positions since the start of last season, more than any other team.
Whether this was a point gained or two dropped will only become clear at the end of the campaign.
Nuno’s team visit Everton a week on Sunday in a huge game near the foot of the table.
Wolves have had an excellent campaign under Gary O’Neil, but after going four league games without a win for the first time in 2023-24 their season is in danger of petering out.
They were on the back foot early on but were almost gifted an opener when Yates gave the ball to Joao Gomes inside the Forest box. His shot was cleared off the line by Murillo before Pablo Sarabia lashed the follow-up attempt wide.
Gibbs-White’s equaliser just six minutes after Cunha’s moment of magic means Wolves have now failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six away league matches, last doing so in the goalless draw at Brighton in late January.
Forest’s second goal was just as poor from a Wolves perspective, Doherty playing an unintended one-two with Gibbs-White and diverting the ball into the unmarked Danilo’s path.
The home side looked the likelier winners in the latter stages, after Cunha’s second jolted them, but O’Neil’s team held on for a share of the spoils.
With three consecutive home games coming up in late April, O’Neil and his players will be hopeful of returning to winning ways before the end of the month.
source – BBC
