NOTTINGHAM:
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s stunning strike earned Wolverhampton Wanderers their first point of the Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
In a frantic start to the game, New Zealand striker Chris Wood headed the hosts into a 10th-minute lead from a corner, having been left completely unmarked in the penalty area.
Bellegarde issued an immediate response, however, lashing home a sensational hit two minutes later. Both sides failed to really create clearcut chances to snatch all three points as Forest remained unbeaten this season.
“Overall we would have been the better team but we have to take the positives – I think we deserved a bit more from it,” Wood told Sky Sports.
“It is a solid enough start to the season, we are happy with it. We have had two home games and two draws. Both of them we should’ve taken a lot more from it. “We have a great dressing room and on paper we are positive with what we have got.”
Each of the last four league games between Forest and Wolves have now ended in draws, the most in succession during this fixture’s history. It is also the same number of stalemates as across their 20 league meetings combined.
Wolves have conceded at least one goal in all but three of their away league games since the start of the 2022-23 season, with only Morecambe recording fewer in that time across all ever-present teams in England’s top four tiers.
“It was a poor goal from us to concede but we were able to bounce back,” Wolves boss Gary O’Neil told the BBC. “Off the back of a busy week and a tough week — the 6-2 defeat to Chelsea, cup game and transfer window. “It’s an unsettling week for everybody there’s a lot going on. This was an improvement, it’s a tough place to come.”
