Football: Soccer-Forest move three points clear of relegation zone with 3-1 win at Sheffield Utd

SHEFFIELD, England (Reuters) -A brace by Callum Hudson-Odoi helped Nottingham Forest move three points clear of the Premier League’s bottom three as they came back from a goal down to secure a 3-1 win at Sheffield United on Saturday.

Forest, with 29 points from 36 matches, gained a crucial lead over 18th-placed Luton Town with two games to go. Sheffield, already relegated, remained bottom with 16 points.

“It was a big step for us but it’s not over yet,” Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said. “We’ve still got hard games to play.”

Sheffield took the lead in the 16th minute after Gonzalo Montiel’s sliding tackle missed the ball completely and brought down Ben Brereton Diaz inside the box. Brereton Diaz put away the resulting penalty sending keeper Matz Sels the wrong way.

But the visitors equalised just 11 minutes later when Danilo found Callum Hudson-Odoi who came into the box from the left and curled in a right footed shot near the far post.

Forest almost took the lead late in the half when Morgan Gibbs-White’s cross from the right was headed by Wood from close range but it hit the crossbar.

They finally led six minutes into the second half with Willy Boly heading down Anthony Elanga’s pass for an unmarked Ryan Yates to fire into the net with his right foot, scoring his first ever Premier League goal.

“Yeah, relief for sure. We didn’t start the game well,” Yates told Sky Sports. “I think we grew into the game and scored in a couple of good moments… we have built that resilience up since Nuno came in.”

Hudson-Odoi hit the post near the hour mark but completed his brace just two minutes later, evading Anel Ahmedhodzic to make space near the edge of the box to find the target in the near bottom corner.

The goal marked an unsavoury milestone for Sheffield as they became the first club to concede 100 goals in a 38-match Premier League season. Swindon Town, who also conceded 100 goals in 1993-94, did so over 42 games.

Ahmedhodzic was sent off in stoppage time after bringing down Nicolas Dominguez while going for a header, shortly before the match ended.

Sheffield visit Everton next Saturday, while Forest will host Chelsea.

(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)