Nottingham Forest beat Crystal Palace 1-0 for first Premier League win

The emotional intensity of Nottingham Forest manager Oliver Glasner reached a boiling point as he celebrated his team's first home Premier League win of the season. While the opening goal from Jair Cunha against Manchester City prompted only a modest reaction from the 52-year-old Austrian, his composure soon vanished.

Following a strike by Liam Delap, Glasner was seen performing a dance in his technical area and raising his fists. When Delap added a third goal for Forest, the manager sprinted down the touchline to join his players in their celebrations.

"One of my best running stats, I guess," Glasner joked to reporters after the 3-1 victory. He added, "I will be fatigued tomorrow but I can be because it's the international break so I can have a rest."

This result marked Forest's first league win at the City Ground this season, proving that Glasner's tactical approach is finally yielding goals. The manager previously dismissed the idea that his team could survive on "flower power," a comment he made by comparing the side's situation to the 1960s Woodstock music festival.

Until this Saturday, the campaign had been defined by frustration. Despite recording 152 shots this season, which is the second-most in the Premier League, the team had managed only six goals. They also held the lowest shot conversion rate at 4% and the largest negative expected goals figure of -8.3.

The performance against Manchester City was significant, as Forest scored three goals in the match—more than they had managed in their previous six home league games combined, where they totalled just two. This disparity was reflected in their poor league standing, with a negative difference between their six points and 15.49 expected points, placing them 19th rather than third.

"I think we've had better performances in possession because today we rarely had the ball. Regarding the team spirit, the energy, I think it was our best game," Glasner observed. He continued, "The way we play football I think we've had many better games but how we defended, how passionately we defended, how tactically smart we defended, it was one of our better games."

Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy described the win as a "huge moment in the season" for the club. Murphy noted, "Glasner's actually been unlucky in the first part of his Forest tenure in terms of points they've got with the performances they've had. So that's a huge deal for him and the club."