Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest settled for a point apiece after playing out a goalless draw at Selhurst Park.
Morgan Gibbs-White came closest for Forest when he clipped the inside of the far post in the first half, while Jean-Philippe Mateta narrowly missed breaking the deadlock in the second period.
Roy Hodgson’s 400th Premier League game in charge was marred by two more injuries to his severely-depleted side, with Jeffrey Schlupp and Jairo Riedewald forced off on either side of the interval.
Substitute Jesurun Rak-Sakyi was impressive in his fourth appearance for the Eagles and provided a bit of much-needed hope for the hosts – for whom the international break can not come soon enough.
The hosts should have been riding a high after walking away with all three points at Old Trafford last Saturday, but the past seven days instead saw Eberechi Eze, Joel Ward and Cheick Doucoure add to a long list of Eagles injuries, which Hodgson acknowledged had reached a “crisis” point.
Forest quickly worked their way into Palace’s final third but the hosts responded in kind. Edouard launched an effort wide before an alert Will Hughes intercepted Gibbs-White’s weak pass, leading to Palace’s first corner.
Forest earned a corner of their own resulting in the first real chance of the encounter when Harry Toffolo called Sam Johnstone into action, the goalkeeper diving to push away the potential opener.
The visitors should have taken the lead after 20 minutes when Gibbs-White’s side-foot volley from Murillo’s long ball into the box beat Johnstone, but clipped the inside of the keeper’s post but did not cross the line.
Palace barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief. Moments later, Schlupp went down in midfield and was replaced by 21-year-old Rak-Sakyi.
Jordan Ayew then found himself in space near the penalty spot, cringing as he volleyed Joachim Andersen’s delivery well over the crossbar before Palace did little to take advantage of a free-kick, followed by a timely intervention from Riedewald to nullify the threat on the counter.
Rak-Sakyi, who had previously played just nine Premier League minutes for Palace this season, looked eager to prove he deserved more with spirited first half that saw him deliver two good crosses into the area and had a chance to break the deadlock with a volley from inside the six-yard box.
Matt Turner made the save, while Johnstone twice denied Murillo in three minutes of added time to ensure it remained goalless at the break.
Neither side was able to take advantage of early set-pieces to start the second period, which saw little in the way of chances as the game ticked past the hour mark when substitute Gonzalo Montiel saw a shot blocked by Marc Guehi.
Palace came agonisingly close when Tyrick Mitchell found Edouard, who picked out Mateta on the right edge of the area, his effort inching so close the home support had prematurely started to celebrate, but the ball rolled just wide.
It nevertheless sparked something in Hodgson’s side, who continued to pile on the pressure, first through another Rak-Sakyi effort following a fine run from Guehi, then a missed chance for Ayew when he nodded over the crossbar.
Just as momentum had begun to build in their favour, Palace were forced into another substitution. This time it was Riedewald after he was attended to by staff and Chris Richards sent in to replace him.
The deadlock remained a reality, just barely, after Joachim Anderson stuck out a leg to deny Montiel from close range, Johnstone extending to save Nicolas Dominguez’s effort and ensure the points were shared.
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
