Ipswich 1-1 Forest: Enciso punishes Milenkovic error as Diop survives VAR red-card check

Julio Enciso's equaliser four minutes before half-time earned Ipswich Town a 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest at Portman Road on Friday night, cancelling out Neco Williams' 13th-minute opener in wind and constant rain. Forest won the shot count 17-7 and created 2.31 expected goals, according to Sky Sports, yet left Suffolk with one win from eight Premier League games.

Two goals, two lapses

Williams arrived unmarked at the back post to sweep in a looping cross from Daniel Muñoz, his low finish beating Ipswich goalkeeper Christian Walton. Forest should have doubled the lead on 33 minutes, when Walton's toe and a clearance off the line from Ipswich left-back Leif Davis kept the score at 1-0.

The equaliser came out of nothing. Forest's Jair Cunha lost the ball after surging forward, Dara O'Shea punted it clear and Nikola Milenkovic's under-hit back-pass to goalkeeper Matz Sels let Enciso nip in and slot home.

The Diop decision

The flashpoint came just after the restart. Ipswich defender Issa Diop clattered Forest's James McAtee as the last man, and VAR sent referee Thomas Bramall to the pitchside monitor for a possible denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. Bramall stuck with a yellow card, telling the crowd: "After review, there is a foul by Ipswich No.6. However, because the player knocks it to the right side of the goal, the final decision is direct free-kick and a yellow card to No.6."

Forest coach Oliver Glasner was not convinced. "It felt during the game it's a clear red card. I think it was the wrong decision," he told Sky Sports, and also said: "It looks like the VAR was not from the East Midlands today." Diop saw it differently: "Leif [Davis] was there to cover. I don't think it's a red." Ipswich manager Gary O'Neil called it "a good process".

Forest's finishing problem

Forest dominated the second half without scoring. Davis cleared a Dan Ndoye effort off the line on 64 minutes, Murillo missed a free header from a corner, and Liam Delap, booed by the home fans on his return to his former club, headed over on 74 minutes before firing a 30-yard drive just wide. Williams then went off with an arm injury, and Callum Hudson-Odoi dragged a late chance wide during eight minutes of stoppage time. At the other end, Ipswich substitute Jack Clarke fired off target.

Sky Sports says no side has underperformed its expected goals more this season: Forest have six goals from 13.4 xG. "We should have won the game," said Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White. Glasner insisted: "The goals will come."

Where it leaves them

Forest stay 17th on six points, level with Tottenham, Coventry and Bournemouth, who all have a game in hand. Ipswich move provisionally to ninth on 10 points and now have seven points at Portman Road, as many as in the whole of their 2024/25 Premier League season. "We were never quite good enough with the ball to turn it into a football match," admitted O'Neil, whose side had to defend for long spells. "We had to show another side to get something."