Nottingham Forest 2 (Gibbs-White 45+1, Danilo 57) Wolves 2 (Cunha 40, 62)
A Matheus Cunha brace on his first start since returning from two months out with injury helped Wolves secure a point on their travels against Nottingham Forest.
The forward marked his return to the starting 11 with a stunning opener as he ran the whole length of the pitch before arrowing a shot into the top corner, but after Wolves were pegged back and then fell behind with former boss Nuno Espirito Santo’s side scoring either side of the half, Cunha had the final say as he nudged the ball over the line after a corner created havoc in the Forest box.
The hosts began the brighter of the two sides at the City Ground but were limited to chances from outside the Wolves box with Forest skipper Ryan Yates coming close on a couple of occasions, while fellow captain Maximilian Kilman was standing strong in defence with a pair of quick-fire blocks.
Both sets of attackers were limited to shots from outside of the penalty areas in the opening half an hour with Tommy Doyle and Callum Hudson-Odoi putting powerful shots over their respective crossbars, before Gio Reyna and Cunha came close to opening the score.
But moments after Cunha’s chance went over, Wolves thought they were ahead when Joao Gomes’ shot beat Matz Sels but was headed off the line by Murillo after the midfielder had intercepted a loose ball inside the Forest penalty area. The rebound fell nicely for Pablo Sarabia, but the winger could only lash his shot wide of the post with the goal at his mercy.
However, the breakthrough came with five minutes of the half remaining with a piece of individual brilliance from Cunha.
After Jose Sa gathered a cross, he quickly launched the ball out to Cunha inside his own half, and after racing the full length of the pitch, he twisted and turned his way past two red shirts and into the penalty area before launching a stunning strike into the far top corner of the net.
With half-time approaching, Forest were peppering Wolves’ penalty area with corner after corner, and having stood strong to the pressure, the defence was finally beaten in added time through Wolves Academy graduate Gibbs-White.
Reyna’s corner was whipped into the box from the left-hand side and although the midfielder appeared to give a slight push on Nelson Semedo, he was able to glance his header past Sa and low to the keeper’s left.
Half-time | Forest 1-1 Wolves
After a frantic first-half, the game took a while to get going after the break, but once it did, it just wouldn’t let off with chances at either end.
It all began with Forest going in front for the first time in the match and again it was Gibbs-White who was instrumental. The midfielder driving into the Wolves half and when his pass was deflected back into his path, Santiago Bueno thought he had done enough to stop the attack, but instead the ball fell kindly to Danilo who took a touch before firing low past Sa.
Gary O’Neil responded immediately by making a double change which helped turn the momentum of the game Wolves’ way with the introduction of Hee Chan Hwang and Hugo Bueno.
The South Korean was quickly into the action, believing he was fouled in the Forest box, which saw referee Craig Pawson play on, before pulling a good block from Murillo with a powerful shot. But from the corner, Wolves got themselves level.
The corner found the head of Kilman at the far post, but after he headed back into the danger zone a scramble ended up with Cunha turning the ball home from close range. Although VAR tried to intervene, the goal was eventually given.
Wolves were indebted to Sa in keeping them level, with the keeper pulling off several stops in the closing stages, with the biggest coming straight after the equaliser with the Portuguese getting a strong hand to a Danilo effort which was heading for the top corner.
Although both teams pushed for the winning goal, with Forest continuing to put Wolves under pressure from corners and the Old Gold trying to catch their opponents on the break, the game ended all square.
Full-time | Forest 2-2 Wolves
Forest | Sels, Williams, Omobamidele, Murillo, Aina (Tavares 88), Yates (Dominguez 66), Danilo (Ribeiro 88), Reyna (Origi 70), Gibbs-White, Hudson-Odoi, Wood.
Unused subs | Turner, Sangare, Toffolo, Niakhate, Montiel.
Wolves | Sa, Semedo (Fraser 87), Kilman, S. Bueno, Toti, Doherty (H. Bueno 59), Gomes (Hwang 59), M. Lemina, Doyle, Sarabia (Chirewa 87), Cunha (Traore 76).
Unused subs | Bentley, King, Dawson, Barnett.
Referee | Craig Pawson
