Nottingham Forest moved off the bottom of the Premier League by holding out for a 0-0 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion as Wilfried Zaha gave Crystal Palace a 2-1 win over Wolves on Tuesday.
Forest still have only one win on their return to the top flight for the first time in 23 years, but were grateful to escape the Amex Stadium with a point after Brighton dominated throughout.
The Seagulls are still waiting for their first win under new boss Roberto de Zerbi and it was a familiar failing that cost Brighton as they missed a series of chances to claim the three points.
Leandro Trossard hit the bar in the first half, while Dean Henderson twice denied the Belgian international and made a fine late save from Pascal Gross.
"I don't want to speak about the result as if it's unfair or unlucky," said De Zerbi.
"We have to work on the last 20 metres for sure, to decide the best solution in the last 25 metres and to work on creating more solutions."
De Zerbi’s difficult start to life in English football continues with a weekend trip to champions Manchester City, before former Seagulls boss Graham Potter returns to the south coast with Chelsea a week later.
It was a second shutout of the season for the Forest defence and ensured they climbed above Midlands rivals Leicester City at the bottom of the table.
"It's progress," said Forest manager Steve Cooper. "If we take the game in isolation then we have to be happy with a point.
“Is that exactly what we want to be tonight? No. But there were signs. There’s small progress.
“Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot to improve on but there’s certainly a real commitment from the players every single day.
“I’m not going to skip out of here. It’s a good point, of course, but there’s still loads of things I know we’ve got loads of improvement to make on.”
-
Goncalo Guedes of Wolverhampton Wanderers is challenged by Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace during the Premier League match at Selhurst Park on October 18, 2022 in London, England. Palace won the match 2-1. Getty Images -
Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace is challenged by Nelson Semedo of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Getty Images -
Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha celebrates with Jean-Philippe Mateta after the match. Reuters -
Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha, second left, celebrates at the final whistle. AP -
Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace is challenged by Nelson Semedo of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Getty Images -
Eberechi Eze scores Crystal Palace's equaliser. Getty Images -
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Nathan Collins looks dejected after conceding their first goal scored by Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze. Reuters -
Crystal Palace's Eberechi Eze in action. Reuters -
Cheick Doucoure of Crystal Palace battles for possession with Adama Traore of Wolverhampton Wanderers. Getty Images -
Adama Traore celebrates with Diego Costa of Wolverhampton Wanderers after scoring their team's first goal. Getty Images -
Wolverhampton Wanderers' Adama Traore scores their first goal. Reuters
Wolves remain just one point above the bottom three after blowing the lead at Selhurst Park.
Adama Traore headed in Hugo Bueno's cross just after the half-hour mark but Palace showed their customary fighting spirit to haul themselves back into the match.
In all three of Palace's wins this season they have come from behind and the Eagles soared in the second half once Eberechi Eze nodded in at the back post from Michael Olise's cross.
Zaha completed the comeback when he coolly collected Odsonne Edouard's pass to slot past Jose Sa 20 minutes from time.
Victory lifts Patrick Vieira's men up to 10th.
"To perform in the Premier League this is part of the game, to show resilience and character. Nobody hid at 1-0 down," said Vieira.
"We still have a long way to go. We have young players who need to learn the game. Everything wasn't perfect today, but we showed some good elements and can build on that."
