Wood’s double at Leicester sends Forest fifth

Chris Wood’s derby double sent Nottingham Forest up to fifth in the Premier League after a dominant win at Leicester.

The striker seized on two second-half mistakes to punish his former club and take his league goal tally to seven this season.

Ryan Yates had given Forest a 16th-minute lead, only for Jamie Vardy to level soon after.

But the visitors recovered and Wood’s clinical finishing ensured they have now lost just one of their opening nine games.

Foxes boss Steve Cooper suffered defeat against his old club – the first time he had faced them since being sacked last December – and watched on frustrated as Leicester were the architects of their own downfall, punished for every error they made.

First, Facundo Buonanotte opted to run out of defence with the ball rather than clear upfield and was robbed by Callum Hudson-Odoi on the edge of the area.

Elliot Anderson drove into the box and James Justin was only able to half clear his cross, which fell for Yates to find the bottom corner from 20 yards.

The lead lasted just seven minutes, though, as Harry Winks was slipped in on the left, and Vardy darted in between Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic to poke in the midfielder’s cross from six yards.

Rather than settle Leicester down, the leveller galvanised Forest and Mads Hermansen brilliantly denied Nicolas Dominguez from point-blank range. The Danish goalkeeper also turned Hudson-Odoi’s strike away before the break.

Forest then took complete control when they capitalised on more mistakes from the hosts. Wood made it 2-1 just two minutes into the second half when Leicester lost possession and he rolled Caleb Okoli to expertly find the corner with a low drive.

Hudson-Odoi then hit the post, but it still got worse for the Foxes on the hour when Wout Faes made a mess of dealing with visiting keeper Matz Sels’ long clearance and Wood nodded over Hermansen.

Only a woeful Yates miss denied Forest a late fourth.

Defensive gifts a stark reminder of Leicester’s task

Leicester were looking for a third straight Premier League win for the first time since January 2021.

Yet they never looked like they would give Cooper the perfect reunion with his former club. Three errors – twice losing possession and an awful mistake from Faes – gave Forest the platform for success.

Not that the visitors did not deserve it. They were the better team, especially in the second half, as Leicester came crashing back to earth after victories against Bournemouth and Southampton.

It was also a stark reminder of the job Cooper has to ensure the Foxes become a consistent Premier League side again.

They are in 14th place and have a chance to move away from their expected relegation rivals when they visit Ipswich next Saturday.

But, following this East Midlands derby disappointment, they cannot afford to gift teams goals as they did here.

High-flying Forest building on Cooper’s foundations

Forest are halfway to last season’s points total after just nine games. They have the second best defence in the division and only Erling Haaland has scored more league goals than Wood in this campaign.

Following a four-point deduction for breaching profit and sustainability rules, they stayed up with 32 points in 17th spot last term. It would be safe to say anything similar now would represent quite a disappointment.

Former boss Cooper could only watch as New Zealand international Wood – the forward he signed to keep Forest in the top flight in 2023 – dominated his Leicester defenders.

Forest may be rapidly improving under Nuno Espirito Santo, but it was Cooper who laid the foundations for their revival in recent years.

Without his work, taking them from the bottom of the Championship to promotion in 2022, Forest would probably not be in this position.

The visiting fans chanted his name – although he would have taken no solace in that – in recognition and Nuno has now built on Cooper’s legacy and the club’s journey started by the Welshman.