Crystal Palace 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Oliver Glasner's Selhurst Park return ends in defeat as Eagles complete remarkable comeback
Report and free match highlights as Crystal Palace come from behind to beat Oliver Glasner's Nottingham Forest 3-1 in their first reunion since his summer exit; Dan Ndoye gave Forest the lead before goals from Daichi Kamada, Jefferson Lerma and Yeremy Pino completed a turnaround
Glasner received warm applause before kick-off in recognition of the trophies he delivered at the club. But as Palace took control the mood changed, with chants of 'Glasner, what's the score?' and 'sacked in the morning!' ringing around the stadium.
Palace owed much to Walter Benitez, who produced a string of superb saves to deny Liam Delap, Morgan Gibbs-White and, later, Chris Wood. His interventions kept the hosts in the contest as Forest dominated early on, before Daichi Kamada's first Premier League goal and Jefferson Lerma's first-half stoppage-time header turned the game around.
Yeremy Pino extended Palace's lead in the 59th minute, reacting quickest after Matz Sels saved Jorgen Strand Larsen's effort. It ended a run of 19 Premier League appearances without a goal for the Spaniard and capped a remarkable shift in momentum, with Palace looking increasingly dangerous after the break.
The win ends Palace's 14-year wait for a league victory over Forest and gives Pierre Sage's side a much-needed boost after a difficult start to the campaign. For Glasner, a return that began with appreciation ended with taunts from his former supporters - a reminder that, in football, sentiment only lasts until kick-off.
Palace's victory lifts them to 12th in the Premier League table on seven points from six games, while Forest are 14th on five points.
3: GOAL! Forest take an early lead as Anan Khalaili's attempted header back to his goalkeeper falls straight into Ndoye's path, and the forward produces a superb finish.
7: SAVE! Kamada crosses for Strand Larsen, who forces Sels into a fine stop before the Forest goalkeeper denies him again.
21: SAVE! Benitez tips Ndoye's header over the bar as Forest continue to threaten.
28: CLOSE! Daniel Munoz meets Neco Williams' cross at the far post with a side-footed half-volley but sends his effort wide.
35: CROSSBAR! Gibbs-White rattles the woodwork before Benítez produces a stunning point-blank save to deny Delap from doubling Forest's lead.
41: GOAL! Palace are level as Kamada slots home after the ball breaks kindly into his path inside the area. His first Premier League goal survives a VAR check.
45+4: GOAL! Palace complete a remarkable turnaround before the break as Lerma heads home a superb delivery, with the ball slipping through Sels' legs.
59: GOAL! Palace extend their lead! Strand Larsen's effort is saved by Sels but Pino reacts quickest to slot home the rebound after a VAR check.
76: SAVE! Benítez produces another excellent stop to deny Wood from close range, keeping Palace's two-goal advantage intact.
90+5: FULL-TIME! Palace come from behind to beat Forest 3-1, ending their long wait for a league victory over the visitors and spoiling Glasner's return to Selhurst Park.
Analysis: Sage produces throwback Palace display in front of Glasner
Sky Sports' William Bitibiri at Selhurst Park:
"Crystal Palace have shown signs of rediscovering their attacking spark under Sage, with their 3-1 comeback win over Nottingham Forest the latest example.
"The Eagles have now scored three or more goals in two of their last four league games - as often as they managed across their previous 37 Premier League matches combined.
"Goals were a problem during Glasner's latter days in charge, as Palace struggled to balance their domestic and European commitments.
"There is an early sense of a throwback to the more free-scoring side that flourished under the Austrian in his first season, when their pace, movement and attacking combinations made them a threat to anyone.
"It is still early in Sage's tenure and two high-scoring performances do not guarantee a lasting change. But Palace look to be playing with greater freedom and confidence, with Kamada, Lerma and Pino all finding the net against Forest.
"If Sage can sustain that attacking momentum while tightening up a defence that has been vulnerable this season, there are encouraging signs of a more dangerous Palace taking shape."
Sage: It wasn't about revenge on Glasner
"It's not about revenge, a confirmation or something like this for every individual player. It's only about one game in a big series.
"The game is not against Oliver. The game is against Nottingham and that's the most important thing.
"We just have to be respectful with him, with what he did here. He helped me a lot because this team knows and is able to do a lot of things, and I have to thank him for that.
"It's not normal to concede too many chances as we conceded today. We had a problem in the first half, especially in the area of Ndoye. We have to be more efficient in one-vs-one situations when we defend.
"We have to be honest with what happened on the pitch. Everybody is aware of that, every player is aware of that, but I want to underline one thing: they give their life on the pitch."
Glasner: I was surprised but grateful for Selhurst reception
Nottingham Forest head coach Oliver Glasner :
"I want to say a huge thank you to the Crystal Palace supporters for this great reception. I didn't know what I could expect but it just shows the wonderful memories we created together here.
"I haven't experienced that I was supported from both sides and so a really huge thank you."
On whether he expected such a positive reception:
"I didn't expect but I thought it will be like this to be honest, because we had such great times together and this is just how I got to know them - very grateful fans, people."
"I think in total we played our best performance in the entire season. But again, if you don't score from all these chances... but there's nobody to blame because the effort was massive.
"Even after the 1-3, the players tried and tried and tried, and then effort created chances.
"I'm 100 per cent encouraged by this. Today I saw many positive performances, but it's not shown by the result because we missed the most important thing: scoring goals in the right moments."
Topics in this story
Gathered from external sources. Rights to this text belong to whoever originally published it.