FOOTBALL – Nottingham Forest’s struggles in front of goal continued yesterday as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw against Ipswich Town, despite controlling much of the contest and creating enough opportunities to secure all three points.
The result extends a worrying trend for Forest, whose poor finishing has undermined their performances this season.
They have scored just six goals from chances worth a combined 13.4 expected goals, making them the league’s biggest underperformers in that statistical category.
With only one victory from their opening eight matches, Forest will be increasingly concerned that their inability to turn promising attacking displays into goals is costing them valuable points.
Forest dominated the attacking statistics, recording 17 shots to Ipswich’s seven and generating 2.31 expected goals.
However, their inability to convert their chances once again proved costly, with Neco Williams’ first-half strike their only reward for an impressive attacking display.
Williams gave Forest the breakthrough, putting the visitors in a strong position before a costly defensive error from Nikola Milenkovic allowed Ipswich to restore parity.
Julio Enciso capitalised on the mistake to level the score just before half-time, leaving Forest frustrated after surrendering their advantage.
The visitors also had reason to question the officials’ decision-making after Ipswich defender Issa Diop escaped a red card for his challenge on James McAtee.
Referee Thomas Bramall initially showed a yellow card before being advised by VAR to review the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Despite the review, Diop was not dismissed for what Forest believed was a denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
Ipswich also benefited from some crucial defensive interventions.
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