Burnley 1-2 Nottingham Forest. Chris Wood’s double against his former club sealed Premier League safety for Nottingham Forest as they comfortably beat relegated Burnley.
Forest’s goal difference meant they were as good as safe going into the final day but Wood shattered any slight concerns when he turned home an Anthony Elanga cross after just 76 seconds.
Wood’s second, coming as a Ryan Yates shot ricocheted off him and past Arijanet Muric, was initially disallowed, but the Video Assistant Referee overturned the on-field decision.
Burnley controlled the ball but were mostly unproductive in the final third, struggling as Forest sat back in a low block to keep the hosts at bay.
Forest made the most of their fleeting moments of possession, causing continual trouble through Elanga and Callum Hudson-Odoi’s tricky footwork on either wing.
Josh Cullen was fortunate that his second-half strike deflected off Forest defender Murillo and pulled a goal back for the Clarets, but they were unable to turn that into a sustained fightback.
Burnley – whose fate was sealed with defeat by Tottenham last weekend – return to the Championship having won just two games at home all season.
Mathematically, sealing Forest’s top-flight safety was on the line, but this was otherwise a game which had the feeling of a match at the end of the season.
Neither side managed to build up too many periods of rhythm and it was ultimately Wood’s nous in the box which made the difference.
Wood, who played for Burnley from 2017 to 2022, was a reliable presence in the final third to make the most of his side’s creativity on the counter-attack.
Nuno’s side sat back to stymie Burnley’s attempts of mounting a fightback and limited them to half-chances as Zeki Amdouni and Maxime Esteve both sent efforts over Matz Sels’ goal.
Forest were content with trying to break Burnley down in the middle and hit the hosts after overturning possession, with Morgan Gibbs-White’s vision orchestrating many of their moves forward.
Burnley just couldn’t cope with Forest’s pace and movement on the break and were punished when their slow build-up inevitably faltered.
Cullen’s goal acted as late inspiration, but in the end it was limited to consolation as Forest prevented Burnley finding an equaliser.
source – BBC
