Nottingham Forest right-back Ola Aina has expressed disappointment with the club’s recent dip in form, after they dropped points in Monday night 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
The Premier League’s surprise package lost further ground in the battle for Champions League football, as they could only come away from Selhurst Park with a point.
What happened in the match?
The Eagles took the lead on the half-hour mark when the in-form Eberechi Eze scored from the penalty spot, after Nicolas Dominguez was adjudged to have fouled Tyrick Mitchell by the Video Assistant Referee.
Forest were level four minutes later when Murillo flicked in a Neco Williams’ shot past Dean Henderson in the hosts goal.
Crystal Palace however finished the game strongly, with Eze striking the crossbar with a stunning curler before Eddie Nketiah’s goal was ruled out for a marginal offside.
Forest poor form
Nottingham Forest were third on the English Premier League standings in April and on course to secure a top-five finish at the end of the season.
However, a run of one win in the last five league matches for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have seen them drop to sixth with 61 points, three points off Chelsea in fifth, with three rounds of fixture remaining.
Forest still have their destiny in their own hands with winnable fixtures against relegated Leicester City and out-of-sorts West Ham United to come, before a final-day clash against the Blues at City Ground.
What Aina said
Reacting after the draw, the Super Eagles defender said: “I think it’s a good point away from home. Tough to come here — they are a good side. And you know, with the level that we hit recently, a point is a good result.
It just happens. This is football, sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. Unfortunately for us, it hasn’t gone our way recently but the hard work continues and we try to get three points every game but we couldn’t get that today.”
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