Nottingham Forest hosted Crystal Palace at The City Ground on Saturday afternoon in their final Premier League game before the World Cup break.
Steve Cooper made five changes to his starting line-up from Wednesday’s Carabao Cup victory over Tottenham, with Dean Henderson, Remo Freuler, Cheikhou Kouyaté, Morgan Gibbs-White and Brennan Johnson all returning to the side.
Crystal Palace started the game on the front-foot, with Wilfried Zaha firing over from close-range before Henderson was forced to parry away his cross.
Forest survived the early pressure though and came close to scoring the opener after 15 minutes of play, with Jesse Lingard being just inches away from sliding the ball in from a tidy Brennan Johnson cross.
The next quarter of an hour went on in even terms, as both sides were able to build their way into the opposition area, but remained inaccurate in front of the goal.
After half an hour of play The Reds received a free-kick just outside the area, but Morgan Gibbs-White’s curling effort was not enough to trouble the keeper.
Crystal Palace received a golden opportunity to take the lead before half-time when Zaha won himself a penalty after a push from Joe Worrall, but the Ivory Coast international was unable to capitalise as he squared his spot kick wide of the post.
Half-time: Nottingham Forest 0–0 Crystal Palace
The hosts started the second half brightly with the fully-packed City Ground cheering them on, forcing Crystal Palace’s defence to their best.
Seven minutes into the second half the deadlock was broken though, as Gibbs-White reacted quickest to Johnson’s saved effort and turned the rebound in from close-range.
A long VAR check followed since the linesman had initially flagged the goal offside, but the wait was then rewarded with the Englishman’s second goal in three games.
Only a few minutes after his goal Gibbs-White found himself from the box again, but failed to hit his shot on target from Lingard’s headed pass.
Patrick Vieira made two quick changes in an effort to get his team back into the contest, but the opener only seemed to push Forest on for more.
Both Worrall and Lingard had a chance to double the lead for the Reds from inside the area, but failed to hit the target on both times.
With less than 15 minutes on the clock the former Manchester United player was played through on goal by Gibbs-White, but his chip over the oncoming Vicente Guaita hovered over the bar.
Sam Surridge, who replaced Lingard soon after, found himself from a good area straight away, but swung his half-volley into the stands.
The Reds remained resolute as five minutes were added on, with Freuler making an important header after Olise delivered a dangerous free-kick towards the back-post.
Referee John Brooks then blew for full time to ensure Forest secured all three points on Trentside heading into the international break.
Full-time: Nottingham Forest 1–0 Crystal Palace