Nottingham Forest were left ruing the referee’s decision not to reduce Ipswich Town to 10 men in the second half, as well a number of missed chances in front of goal, after a 1-1 draw at Portman Road on Friday.
The result lifted Forest out of the relegation zone but extended their winless run to four matches.
The big talking point was the 48th minute decision not to send off Issa Diop after he felled James McAtee as he headed towards the Ipswich goal. The video referee looked at the decision and Diop was yellow-carded.
“It was the wrong decision but we couldn’t have played a more dominant second half,” Forest coach Oliver Glasner told Sky Sports. “We created enough chances to decide the game and that’s why I will never blame the referee.
“I liked that he went to the screen, this is the right procedure. It was wrong [decision] but he didn’t do it on purpose.”
On a blustery night, Forest played with the wind behind them during the first half and it was a swirling ball that led to the opener.
Daniel Muñoz threw in a high cross from the right and Neco Williams was unmarked in the box and guided his volley into the net.
Ipswich drew level four minutes before halftime when Nikola Milenkovic was caught in possession by Julio Enciso. The Paraguayan midfielder ran on to calmly slot the ball past diving goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Forest had the bulk of the chances in a gritty second period but could not make its superiority count.
“We have had so many good performances recently and we haven’t been able to get the final three points and get over the line,” Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White said. “Again tonight we had a lot of chances.
“The first half we were in control, then they were in control. But the second half we dominated completely and should have won the game, in my eyes. If we keep up these performances like this then the wins are going to have to come.”
Forest have only one win in eight Premier League fixtures, which was also the case in the 2025-26 campaign and it led to owner Evangelos Marinakis dismissing Nuno Espirito Santo and Ange Postecoglou by this point last year.
However, Glasner struck a relaxed tone about the direction his team were heading in.
“Yes, the result, I think, doesn’t reflect the performance, but I don’t know a different solution than just to keep going because everyone sees, everyone feels we are on the right track, with the way we play, the way we create chances and also the way we defend,” he told a news conference.
“[Now] it’s supporting the players, keep the confidence and just waiting for this click. Maybe it’s an own goal or a deflected ball like we lost last week because then the results will follow the performances.”
Ipswich moved up one place to ninth in the table and manager Gary O’Neil acknowledged they had to dig deep to frustrate Forest.
“One where we had to show another side to get something from the game,” O’Neil said. “One where togetherness, shutting up a little bit and being a bit safer got us through to the finish line. And proud of the players, because not easy to do that and a good point for us.”
The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.
