LONDON: Nottingham Forest drew with Crystal Palace 1-1 in the Premier League on Monday and saw its Champions League hopes fade.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have spent most of the year in the league top three but a run of one win in four has dropped them behind Chelsea, Newcastle and a resurgent Manchester City.
A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth, with the top five qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Neither team was able to take control of a sometimes scrappy match that saw eight names go in the referee’s book.
Palace took the lead with a penalty kick after an hour. After a video review, Matz Sels was adjudged to have felled Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze made no mistake from the spot.
Forest bounced right back within four minutes, Murillo doing enough to deflect a goal-bound shot from Neco Williams away from the keeper.
Eze hitting the woodwork in the dying seconds and Eddie Nketiah having a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time meant FA Cup finalist Palace has not won any of its last five league games.
Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
https://arab.news/vekgz
Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
- A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth
Pakistan captain rules out ‘major’ squad changes before T20 World Cup 2026
- T20 World Cup will take place in India in February, with Pakistan to play its matches in Sri Lanka
- Pakistan have recorded back-to-back T20I series victories over Sri Lanka, South Africa this year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha set his sights on winning the T20 World Cup 2026, ruling out any “major changes” to the squad before the megaevent next year.
The 10th edition of the T20 World Cup will commence on Feb. 7 next year in India. Pakistan will play all of its matches in Sri Lanka as per a deal brokered by the ICC that allows India and Pakistan to play each other at neutral venues.
Pakistan have tried left-arm pacer Salman Mirza, brought back former captain Babar Azam to the T20I squad and tried fast bowler Naseem Shah and played several all-rounders in the squad this year, including Saim Ayub, Mohammad Nawaz and Faheem Ashraf.
“I think our roles are defined and we need to give a chance in the next six games with consistency to this playing XI and those roles, so that we can head to the World Cup with confidence,” Agha said in a podcast with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).
“I don’t think there will be any major changes because we were keeping this World Cup in mind since the last six to seven months in the way we were practicing or selecting the players for the team,” he added.
Pakistan will next play a three-match T20I away series against Sri Lanka before they head to the T20 World Cup.
The South Asian country has encountered success in white-ball matches recently, winning a tri-nation series tournament against Afghanistan and the UAE in September.
Agha also led his team to the final of the Asia Cup later the same month which they lost to India. However, he led the Green Shirts to wins against Sri Lanka and South Africa in the T20I series against both countries at home later.
