New Zealand captain Chris Wood’s latest goal in the English Premier League has set new milestones for his career.
Wood scored for Nottingham Forest in their 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace, giving him his fifth double-figure haul for an EPL season, a rare feat achieved only by an elite band of strikers that includes Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Spurs), Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) and Son Heung-Min (Spurs).
His latest goal came from a header, his 23rd such goal from the 65 he’s scored since his EPL debut for West Bromwich Albion in 2009.
He has five headed goals this season, more than any other EPL player, and he has more aerial goals than any other player still active.
Going into the Palace game, Wood also led another key EPL season statistic — no EPL striker has a better shot-to-goal conversion rate with the New Zealander scoring from 37.5% of his shots.
His 65 career goal tally takes him to 75th in the all-time list of EPL scorers, level with Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Brighton’s Danny Wellbeck.
He’s overtaken former Wales and Manchester United striker Mark Hughes (64) and England star David Beckham (62).
Forest’s draw with Palace has helped the club in its battle to avoid relegation after being deducted four points for breaching profit and sustainability rules.
An independent commission says Forest’s 2022-23 losses breached the threshold of £61m by £34.5m.
Watch Chris Wood’s latest goal
Wood’s post-match interview
Result
Game played on Sunday March 31, 2024 (NZT)
Nottingham Forest 1 (Chris Wood 61′)
Crystal Palace 1 (Jean-Philippe Mateta 11′)
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