Nottingham Forest vs Stoke City. Sky Bet Championship.
The City Ground.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between Nottingham Forest and Stoke City at the City Ground as Lewis Grabban's second-half equaliser cancelled out Rabbi Matondo's opener to earn a point for Chris Hughton's side
Saturday 24 April 2021 19:14, UK
Nottingham Forest edged their way to Championship safety as Lewis Grabban scored for the second game in a row to earn Chris Hughton's side a 1-1 draw against Stoke.
Rabbi Matondo had put Michael O'Neill's side in front in the first half with a close-range finish.
But Grabban struck just after half-time to leave Forest with 51 points and - with arch rivals Derby losing to Birmingham - the point confirmed Championship football for another season at the City Ground.
Both sides were passing the ball around neatly on a decent playing surface but more than 15 minutes had gone before the first clear opening of the game was carved out.
When it came Grabban really should have put Forest ahead after some questionable defending allowed him to angle in on goal from the right side but, with only goalkeeper Adam Davies to beat, the striker fired the ball into the side netting at the near post.
Grabban had showed tremendous composure to secure an injury-time equaliser from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw at Birmingham in midweek, but could not find the same level of calm with this chance.
Cyrus Christie left three Stoke players in his wake when he cut into the penalty area from the right flank, but he could not find the killer pass for Grabban.
Stoke took the lead with their first meaningful attack as Josh Tymon whipped in a dangerous low ball from the left.
Yuri Ribeiro slid in, in a desperate effort to cut out the cross, and he and Matondo seemed to connect at the same time.
But Matondo looked convinced he had applied the vital touch and ran off celebrating joyously, just before the half-hour mark.
Grabban appealed for a penalty when he felt he had been pulled back in a melee of players, as he attempted to chase a through ball from substitute Anthony Knockaert - who had come on in the 37th minute due to an injury to Luke Freeman - but referee Andy Davies was not convinced.
A James Garner free-kick was delivered with real menace and Ryan Yates was close to applying the vital touch but failed to find the back of the net.
Forest equalised five minutes after the break when Knockaert delivered an enticing ball from the right.
Grabban initially saw his attempt charged down but when the ball dropped kindly for him, he prodded home at the second time of asking to make it 1-1.
Stoke's Jordan Thompson saw a shot bounce off the top of the crossbar after taking a wicked deflection as the visitors pushed for a winner.
Christie had a shot well saved at the near post by Davies, after he had combined well with Knockaert, while the latter was lively and another cross from him looked as though it would pick out Grabban before Danny Batth got in a vital header to see the spoils shared.
Nottingham Forest manager Chris Hughton: "I have mixed feelings, really. I am talking on the back of a decent performance and I am disappointed that we have not won, but pleased that, in a very competitive division and a very competitive season, that we had a good enough spell in the last few months to put us in this position.
"I am disappointed, overall, that we are not higher up the table. For what we have got here and for some of our performances over the last few months, I would have liked to have seen us further up. That is the biggest disappointment. It does need to be better next season even if there have been aspects I have been pleased with."
Stoke manager Michael O'Neill: "We scored a good goal and we could have done better with some of the other opportunities we had. We pushed very hard, we won a lot of corners but we just did not get a clear-cut chance; a proper opportunity to fall for us.
"I felt we could have won the game but it was a good performance from a squad that included a lot of young players. We were playing against a very experienced Championship team. Forest have a lot of very good players and it is good that we are disappointed only to have taken a point."
